Triple threat (Working title)
by BlackArticFox
Summary: One is exciting, two is nerve-wracking, but THREE might just be their demise. Because there's just something about pregnancies that makes everyone lose their minds and Blood Pledge Castle is in for its share of madness. (Cover image not mine)
1. Prologue

**Fanfiction title: **Triple threat _(Working title)_

**Fanfiction summary:**One is exciting, two is nerve-wracking, but THREE might just be their demise. Because there's just something about pregnancies that makes everyone lose their minds.

**Chapter title:**Prologue

**Chapter number:**1/?

**A/N: **OK guys here's the Prologue to my MPREG Kyou Kara Maou fanfiction. I'm still not sure how many chapters this will be but I have some already planned. It's the first time I write something like this so I hope I will do fine.

I still don't have a title for this particular story so I'm willing to hear suggestions, in the meantime I will leave this as the working title. Also there are established relationships in the story and this will take place some years into the future, I will be describing some of the changes and happenings as the story progresses, like how some characters have grown and things like that. This will start off with some troubles, particularly for three characters, but it will get better and I will play with this a bit while still trying to keep it without much crack –yeah, I know, it is a story where males are able to bear children, but still.

I'd be happy to hear your opinion on my story with your reviews. Also please remember English is not my first language and I don't have a beta reader so please forgive me for each and every spelling and grammatical mistake you find, I hope it doesn't make the story too confusing or makes you want to quit this ^.^''

Without further ado, please enjoy!

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**Prologue**

Ten years, nine months, two weeks and five days; it had been that long since Yuuri had first arrived to the demon kingdom to become the new Maou, even though people on Earth would claim it had only been a little over two years, for the young double-black it had been much longer and a lot had happened since then: The first couple of years he had thought, twice, he was done for as Maou, only for his powers to come back even stronger than before and he had managed to survive countless dangers. After Janus had been reunited with his other lives and Seisakoku became fertile land again, even more things were in store for the double-black.

About seven years ago he realized he had fallen in love with his accidental fiancé, Wolfram von Bielefeld, although it was still uncertain when his feelings had actually started to grow, it wasn't until then that he acknowledged them. It was amazing that the blond had waited that long for him but Yuuri suspected he might have known about Yuuri's feelings before the Maou himself did and was just giving him time to accept them. The wait paid off and three years after Yuuri's acceptance the royal wedding took place and the whole kingdom celebrated for days. Truth be told, the wedding could have happened sooner, had it not been for the political issues that they had to face during that lapse of time.

The first political issue was Sara becoming the King of the now-unified Shimaron, taking chance of the lack of visible successor after Ranjeel had lost his Sanity –and since Conrad still refused to claim the land despite his heritage- by using his ability to win people over without even using his powers, he was easily accepted… Until he announced he would sign a peace-treaty with Shin Makoku; after the announcement, there had been a few rebels who had tried to attack both Kings in their respective lands but all attempts were stopped before any harm could be done. The treaty was signed a little over four years ago and the last attack on them happened eighteen months ago; the situation appeared to be calm at last. Sara was now twenty-seven years old and had recently told Yuuri that he would start looking for a heir soon, the Maou didn't know if he meant adopting a child or finding a Queen to have his very own successor but both options sounded nothing like Saralegui so he'd just have to wait and see.

The other political issue was Greta's crowning about two years ago, becoming queen of her very own land; her people received the eighteen-year-old woman with much love. A peace treaty had been signed with her as well and, unlike the people from Shimaron, it was well accepted by humans and Mazoku alike since the human Queen had, after all, been raised by Mazoku.

The castle had been sad after her departure but they slowly got back to high spirits, even more so when Gwendal proposed to Günter –using the far more modern window proposal over the painful slap on the cheek, mind you- and, even though Gwendal was tomato red by the time he finished, it was worth it in the end since Günter accepted the proposal happily and Celli lost no time in arranging the ceremony which was basically as big and Yuuri and Wolfram's own, not only because they were head of two of the ten noble houses of Shin Makoku, but also because the 26th Maou would never favor one of her "babies" over another one. They had celebrated their first year anniversary a few months ago.

Yuuri's personal life on Earth had also changed. Murata and Yuuri had graduated high school and, while the demon king wasn't thinking on going to college –at least for the moment-, Murata was actually giving it a try since he received a pretty tempting offer from a University due to his excellent grades. Both of them spent most of their time in Shin Makoku nowadays and Murata needed to make his calculations because he still couldn't transport himself and Shinou wasn't always reliable, the bespectacled sage had assured Yuuri it had been easy though since he had already figured out the time equivalency between Earth and the Demon Kingdom had steadied to one hour on Earth per one hundred and eight hours in Shin Makoku –or about four and a half demon days to one on Earth according to Günter-; Yuuri trusted him with that, knowing his best friend would never abuse his powers or time.

Other than that, and the kingdom's usual problems, everything was pretty calm… Until now; three days ago Wolfram woke up feeling nauseated but had refused to see Gisela, later that day, Gwendal told the royal couple that Günter had also been sick throughout the day so they had assumed something had probably upset their stomach or they had caught something. A couple of days passed in which they also suffered headaches, Yuuri feared Wolfram's low blood pressure would act up so he made sure to keep the blond away from the sun and eating some sweets. Günter and Wolfram had spent most of those two days in bed, hoping the rest would help them get better.

They would have let it pass, had it not been for Conrad starting to feel sick himself on the third day of Wolfram's and Günter's illness. All three of them looked rather tired and everyone got worried so they were finally forced to see the green-eyed healer. Gwendal, Lady Celli, Murata and Yuuri waited for the diagnosis, praying it wouldn't be anything fatal but what they were told was much more shocking, even if not nearly as bad: They had a triple pregnancy in Blood Pledge Castle.

Lady Celli immediately ran into the infirmary with an excited squeal but the rest stayed behind trying to let the words sink in. It was a well-known fact that male Mazoku –pure and half-breed alike- could get pregnant as long as their partner possessed Maryoku, but Mazoku pregnancy, in general, could be avoided if they drank an infusion of magical leaves once a month. Wolfram had started drinking it as soon as he had gotten intimate with Yuuri and had been very careful not to miss it. Günter had joined a few days before his wedding, being far more conservative than the fire-wielder, and now they always drank it together to make sure neither would forget; so, what surprised them, was that they got pregnant at all if they had this habit more than adapted.

Gisela explained to everyone that they, apparently, did drink the infusion this month but they didn't notice the leaves had started to dry out, thus, losing its properties to help avoid pregnancy. Conrad himself also had drunk the liquid this month, even if his chances of getting pregnant were close to none due to the fact he had no Maryoku of his own, since he _'didn't want to take any chances' _but the dry leaves didn't help his case and the brunet was in for big troubles with his older brother and his lover; he was the only one of the three males in the medical wing that wasn't even supposed to have the possibility to be carrying someone's child.

Gisela woke the men out of their trance when she told them they could see them now and the pack walked into the room. Yuuri went straight to Wolfram and stood in front of him; the blond was seated at the end of one of the beds and raised his head to meet Yuuri's black eyes; the green orbs were swimming with fear but they were also sparkling with happiness like the Maou had never seen before. The prince consort hugged his husband by the waist and buried his head in the black-clad chest, he was trembling so Yuuri hugged him around the shoulders and rested his head on top of the blonde's one. The double-black turned to look at Gwendal who was in a similar position with Günter on the bed across from them but Günter seemed to be a lot calmer than Wolfram was, possibly because he was much older and mature than the Maou's lover; maybe both males had already had the chance to be a father to an adopted kid but it was an entirely different thing to carry a child themselves and it was likely the lilac-haired man was much more prepared for the task than Wolfram was.

Yuuri's gaze turned towards his godfather only to find him in a state he had never seen him before; the brunette's head was hung low, the crown of his head against his mother's chest while the woman's arms pulled her second son as close to her as she could without making him uncomfortable, Conrad's hands were on his lap and he was so still he could have passed for a statue, just, a breathing statue. The previous Maou looked troubled and Yuuri assumed it had to do with the fact she wasn't sure whether to feel glad or sad about Conrad's situation and everyone else was pretty much in the same train of thought; things will be more complicated for him than for the other two pregnant men.

"Your Majesty," Conrad's voice sounded so solemn that Yuuri didn't bother in correcting the title, brown eyes finally left the floor to look at his ruler who looked back at him waiting for the man to continue talking "I need to talk to someone…"

And, somehow, Yuuri already knew who he was talking about.

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**TBC~**


	2. Revelations

**Fanfiction title:**Triple threat _(Working title)_

**Fanfiction summary:**One is exciting, two is nerve-wracking, but THREE might just be their demise. Because there's just something about pregnancies that makes everyone lose their minds.

**Chapter title:**Revelations

**Chapter number:**2/?

**A/N: **Finally I got this done, it turned out longer than expected, 7 Word pages when I thought it wouldn't go past 5 BUT this was a tense chapter so I hope this isn't too heavy, not exactly due to the length but because of the drama there is here. I'm not a fan of drama but I did say this would start off with it before it actually moved to the parts I hope will be funny and where I can play around with these guys and their pregnancies.

Speaking of which, I will explain everything on these pregnancies in future chapters, including anatomy and how Conrad's pregnancy will work somewhat differently to that of Günter's and Wolfram's while still having to face the same symptoms as them; I want to actually explain the differences between half-breeds and pure Mazoku's, maybe for my own guide to keep things "logical" and with continuity but if it helps me I hope it will help you as well.

I have to be honest, I don't know how the situation posted in this chapter actually works in real life or if it is remotely the way it does happen with real people but I tried to keep it to level with what I wanted for this particular chapter. If I, somehow, went too deep into something I don't really understand just know that I just focused on the story's situation and not trying to poke at a real-life problem in a light way. Don't mean any harm in any way.

I'd be happy to hear your opinion on my story with your reviews. Also please remember English is not my first language and I don't have a beta reader so please forgive me for each and every spelling and grammatical mistake you find.

Without further ado, please enjoy!

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**Chapter 1: Revelations**

**.**

**.**

It was easy to tell when the conception had taken place. According to Gisela all three of them were about three weeks in and a little over three weeks ago there had been a celebration in the castle in honor of Lady Celli's birthday –no-one dared to ask how old she was though- and the party hadn't really gone as planned, people were having "too much fun" and it went downhill from there. Yuuri himself didn't quite remember much from that night but the morning after there was more than enough evidence to assume that had been the night Wolfram had gotten pregnant; also it would be almost another week before the royal couple had the chance to have sex again so it couldn't be any other night.

If anyone else's night had been similar to theirs –and considering the way most nobles wouldn't dare to meet quite a few people's eye the morning after the celebration, that had, in fact, been the case- then it would be safe to assume both Günter and Conrad got pregnant the same night. It didn't really help Yuuri figure out Conrad's situation though and his Godfather had refused to talk to anyone about it until he had talked to his lover, no-one questioned his decision, the news about the three pregnancies were to be kept secret until the brunet had everything sorted out. Yuuri also wanted to let his parents know before the news were spread to the kingdom but he didn't want to leave until he was sure Conrad was fine.

"Are you feeling well, your Majesty?" Yuuri's head snapped up at the question. He was currently in his office alone with Conrad, he was supposed to be doing paperwork but his head was too filled with concern to really focus. Conrad had been dismissed the day prior since the night he received the news had left him pretty shocked but this morning he had insisted to get back to his duties until his lover got to Covenant Castle, he claimed his job helped him with his stress, he also had been lucky enough not have any morning sickness that day, Wolfram and Günter were still feeling tired and Gisela explained it had something to do with their Maryoku shifting within them.

"It's Yuuri, Conrad." The double-black replied, over the years the exchange had become one of the things they shared with one another, not unlike the one he had with Wolfram about not being a wimp; instead of getting old it was something that helped them lighten the mood or break the ice like in this situation "And yeah, I am…"

"Do not worry, Yuuri." Over the years it also seemed as if Conrad could read Yuuri's mind without much effort, like he appeared to have done just now "I will be fine."

"I'm sorry."

"For what?" Conrad asked genuinely confused, Yuuri could only look down and shrug.

"I don't really know." The Maou answered honestly to which the older male couldn't help but smile tenderly, resting a hand on the black clad shoulder midnight eyes found warm brown anxiously.

"I admit I'm feeling very nervous about this, but..." The soldier trailed off at the sound of a horse rushing through the main gates of the castle, he felt the King's shoulders tense at the sound and he couldn't help but take away his hand lest he'd let Yuuri feel him tense as well; it was time "He knows he has to come straight to my office, right?"

"That's what I wrote in the letter." Conrad nodded at that and excused himself, making his way to his own office and hoping it would go better than he expected.

Walking down the halls he went over what he had planned to say over and over again, deep down knowing it would somehow work out but also dreading what would happen before it got to that point. Conrad could safely say there weren't a lot of things that scared him but the few things that did affected him much more than he would like and this moment was nerve-wracking: He was about to tell his lover of years that he was carrying another man's child.

* * *

Alone in his office, Yuuri couldn't sit still; he had to know what was happening with his Godfather… but he also needed to get this paperwork done before Gwendal came back from patrol or the commander would be mad at him… then again, Gwendal usually didn't come back until dinner and it was a little past lunch now so he was sure he could overhea- _Make sure _everything went well with Conrad before that time came and still have time to finish the paperwork; yeah, that would work!

Yuuri shot up from his seat and ran to a bookshelf to his left close to the window; throughout his years of living in this place, the king had found a hidden door behind the shelf that led to a complex set of tunnels and staircases that led to various rooms; he had found the time to explore each and every tunnel and had marked them so he wouldn't get lost in case he ever needed to use them and, with one of them leading straight to Conrad's office, there wasn't a better chance to use them than now. The soukoku ran all the way to his destination, he made it to the right door in just over a minute and leaned against it, due to the silence in the tunnels he could hear everything in the office without straining his ears.

"I'm glad to be back." It seemed like Yuuri had managed to get there just after they had started talking "I've missed you."

"I've missed you too, Yozak." Conrad said, the monarch dared to push against the shelf just a little bit, in hopes of opening a gap just wide enough for him to peek inside without alerting the two males inside; the entrance to this passageway was located by the middle of the room so he would be able to face Conrad completely if he sat at his desk, he just hoped Yozak's back wouldn't cover his view "Please take a seat."

"Sure." The spy took a seat in the lone chair in front of Conrad's desk, fortunately the man had decided to turn it somewhat so he was able to rest his left arm on the desk; it appeared he never quite enjoyed sitting straight but rather sideways on a chair as he used the back of it to rest his right arm; Yuuri was able to see both their faces perfectly for the moment and they didn't give signs of noticing him yet which was both: Relieving and worrying; they were obviously not as aware of their surroundings as they usually were and it was kind of serious for such amazing bodyguards "Say… You look like business, captain."

"You know I would never ask for his Majesty to bring you back unless I deem it necessary, Gwendal is usually the one who is in contact with you." The brunet sighed, he intertwined his fingers and rested his hands on the desk, looking away for just a moment before returning his gaze to his childhood friend "And this is important."

"I'm actually glad I was called back, I've been away for a month." Yozak said obviously trying to lighten the mood but Conrad's expression didn't change so Yozak's smile disappeared instantly "… I'm listening."

"You know we had mother's birthday celebration about three weeks ago." The orange-haired man nodded.

"She invited me to come but with the mission I couldn't be here for it."

"I have to wonder how that night would have gone if you had been here." The captain said, almost to himself "I'm sure you have heard rumors of some of the things that happened that night."

"I heard that the party served to have some relationships give a chance to love or something." Yozak said scratching his head "I'm not even sure what that means and I haven't heard more to be honest, people have been surprisingly quiet about the event considering it _is_ a party held by Lady Celli and those events tend to be in everyone's mouth for weeks afterwards."

"There is a reason why people are keeping quiet about it." Conrad sighed once more, Yuuri knew it was to keep himself composed and also a way to force himself to keep going and if Yuuri had noticed that, there was no way Yozak hadn't caught on already as well, possibly that's why the spy seemed particularly serious this time and didn't interrupt or force words to keep coming "That night someone decided to play a trick on the guests, we're not sure of who did it but they used some kind of potion in the wine; it was well-hidden, no-one had even a small suspicion about it until the morning after came around."

"What kind of potion?" Something in the spy's tone of voice told Yuuri he already knew what the answer was going to be.

"It was some kind of aphrodisiac." Brown eyes looked down at the desk seemingly interested in the wood pattern "People who drank wine would start losing inhibitions and flirt openly with others, it eventually led to people sharing a bed for the night without thinking on what they were doing and with whom; according to what the people we interrogated told us most suffered from memory loss of the night's happenings but they didn't need much explanation to know what they had done."

"Conrart," The terrestrial tensed at the use of his Godfather's name coming from the blue-eyed half-breed; it almost never happened and even less with that stern tone. Yozak rested his hand on Conrad's intertwined ones and forced his eyes to meet his gaze "Did you drink wine that night?"

"… I did." Yozak's free hand went to cover his eyes and a soft groan left his lips, he hunched over in his seat but his left hand never left Conrad's, it only held on tighter as if looking for an anchor. Conrad lowered his gaze once again but made no move to remove Yozak's hand or call his attention, the taller male rested his right elbow on his knee, his hand still covering his eyes but kept silent; the hand holding onto Conrad's twitching every now and then and he occasionally rubbed his eyes roughly.

A few minutes went by, Yuuri wasn't sure of exactly how long it was, but Yozak finally moved his hand from his eyes, he let it slide to rest over his mouth while his gaze focused straight ahead. The brunet looked at his lover upon noticing the movement, waiting for whatever was coming next. At last, Yozak let out a long sigh and lowered his right hand completely, the left one not moving an inch to set the slightly tanned ones free; sky blue eyes focused on those hands instead of looking at the former prince's face. Even more seconds went by in silence before the spy dared to open his mouth.

"Did… Did that night… Was it… I mean, did it…"

"I'm sorry." Apparently those minutes weren't enough for Yozak to think on a proper sentence to articulate so it was the younger male who spoke up "It _was_ a mistake that should never have happened, I am not able to tell you anything about it because I do not remember anything from that night and I do feel awful that it even happened. I can assure you though, no feelings were involved; it was just due to the potion and even if I did have sex with this man it was just_ that_, even though it doesn't make it better… I am truly sorry."

"… It really meant nothing?" One of Conrad's hands freed itself from the hold the other's hand had on it and rested it atop the bigger hand squeezing softly, a small smile adorned the brunet's face.

"If it is not with you it is meaningless." The spy finally turned to look at the other man in the eyes, Yuuri saw Yozak's muscles relax under the warm gaze; Conrad was speaking through his expressive eyes and it was enough for the redhead to believe everything the shorter male was saying. Yozak let out a breath he had been holding and smiled at last.

"You know this is not easy for me, right?" Conrad's smile fell instantly and so did Yozak's "I mean, it will pass and all but it's just that-"

"That's not all." The captain interrupted and Yozak stopped talking, he looked concerned again "There is another thing… That also has to do with that night."

"What are you talking about?" The spy asked seriously, it was obvious he was thinking on more possibilities already "Is this man harassing you now? Does he want to start courting you? Don't tell me he wants to arrange to have more meetings like that with you."

"No, nothing of the sort." The brunet assured quickly, it was his turn to use Yozak's hand as an anchor "Actually, the morning after, he made it quite clear he was just as ready to leave that night behind us as I was; if I am honest, I wasn't planning on telling you, or anyone else, about that night at all, we were going to act as if it never happened taking advantage of the fact we could not actually remember what we did."

"Then, why did you decide to tell me?" Conrad sighed once again, this part was going to be the hardest one.

"Because we can no longer act as if it never happened." Yozak frowned confused and it prompted Conrad to continue, the shorter male was looking down at the desk but kept talking none-the-less "Something came from that night, something we can't just simply ignore."

"What is it?" Conrad's hold on Yozak's hand strengthened one more time, the brunet took a deep breath and raised his head to lock gazes with his childhood friend.

"I'm pregnant." Yozak's left hand fell from the desk, losing all contact with Conrad as he stared wide-eyed at his most precious person. The peeking boy felt his chest clench at the depressed look that came upon his Godfather and the silence in the room felt incredibly heavy.

"You're…" Conrad's gaze fell once again, not replying with words but rather with his posture "I… I…"

"I'm sorry" Was the only thing the younger half-breed managed to say before his beloved jumped from the chair and looked everywhere but back at his host.

"I… I need a couple of hours." Yuuri could have sworn Yozak's hands were trembling just like his voice, the redhead cleared his throat and spoke again "Give me until dinner? I-I will meet you here ha-half an hour before dinner, i-is that good? I just- I just need a moment, just- All right?"

Conrad only nodded in response and the other male left the room faster than Yuuri had ever seen him move. Once he heard the door shut the double-black saw his Nazukeoya hide his face behind his hands and let out a shaky breath. It was too much and, even though the Maou wanted nothing more than to come out of his hideout and be there for someone he'd come to love as a brother, he knew it wouldn't be wise and he himself needed to calm down; there were too many emotions going through him and he had to let them out before trying to comfort someone else. Throwing one last glance at the brunet, Yuuri went back the way he came before deciding against it and changing directions to go to another room; he needed to talk to someone and the only person he trusted enough to talk to about this was probably in the royal bedroom.

* * *

"I can't believe he's acting this way!" Yuuri had found Wolfram in the royal bedroom like he had expected and wasted no time on telling him everything he had heard in Conrad's office, Wolfram wasn't amused by his husband's actions but he let him talk anyway since the double-black sounded rather upset "I mean, he wasn't like rude or anything but the way he left... You should have seen Conrad when Yozak left; he looked so sad and Yozak obviously knew the effect he would have on him so he should have at least reassured him that it was all going to work out just fine but he just up and left and poor Conrad could just stay there and feel awful, that's not what a lover is supposed to do, is it? I mean, I thought Yozak was more understanding than that!"

"Yuuri, you need to calm down." Wolfram said standing up from the bed and resting his hands on the slightly taller male's shoulder, stopping his pacing and forcing him to meet his gaze "Listen, first off you can't just go eavesdropping whenever you please, even less when it's a private matter no matter how curious you are."

"But-"

"Secondly," The blond kept talking ignoring the soukoku "I know how you feel, I also would have liked it if things had been all right with just a few words but you also have to understand just how hard this is for Yozak as well."

"I know it's hard for him but… I don't know, I feel like I would never react the way he did if I had been in that situation." Pale warm hands cupped the king's cheeks, black eyes moved from the floor to meet with all-too-familiar emeralds; Wolfram's face was serious but he did not give signs to be displeased.

"You will never be in that situation." Yuuri rested his hands against the ones holding his face and closed his eyes, letting out a breath he couldn't help but smile softly.

"I know, I know; you would make sure nothing similar ever happens." The hands holding the Maou's cheeks pinched lightly and he opened his eyes surprised at the gesture, Wolfram was smiling at him.

"Glad to know you are aware of that." The blond let go of his husband's face and went back to sit on the bed, patting the spot next to him inviting the younger male to join him "But that is not what I meant."

"Then, what did you mean?" The monarch took a seat and waited for the fire-wielder to continue.

"If I had slept with another man that night and I told you that it meant nothing and apologized, you'd still be with me, right?" Wolfram's hand reached almost unconsciously for the slightly darker one which squeezed gently as soon as their fingers intertwined.

"Of course, I know you'd never be unfaithful to me on your own volition."

"Yozak and Conrart are the same." The Mazoku said looking directly into the half-breed's eyes "That is not the problem here."

"But the pregnancy was not Conrad's fault either!" Yuuri exclaimed still unable to fully understand the situation "He even drank the infusion hoping it would help avoid it and it was just bad luck, his chances of getting pregnant were very low as is."

"Yozak is not blaming Conrart for the pregnancy either, he is not blaming him for anything at all." The prince consort explained, he was being surprisingly patient but it was likely because of the seriousness of the topic "He is hurt not because of Conrart's actions but rather… How do I explain this?"

The terrestrial was genuinely curious now, he never saw Wolfram struggling to explain anything so he just sat in silence while the demon sorted out his thoughts. Finally the blond sighed and turned back to him.

"From an early age, male half-breeds are told that it' is unlikely they will ever have a child of their own unless they marry a woman because most of them do not possess Maryoku and there are counted half-breeds with Maryoku powerful enough to get pregnant or get another male pregnant; you being one of those rare cases.

Couples like Conrart and Yozak usually do not plan on having a family, and if they do plan on it, it tends to be by adopting a child just as long as they are together."

"Ok…" Yuuri trailed off still not sure where this was going.

"Now, though, Conrart is expecting a baby and it is not Yozak's… It can _never_ be Yozak's."

"I… I get that," The double-black assured with a nod "But he will stay with Conrad so it means this child will practically be his as well."

"Sure, depending on the situation, Yozak might adopt the child but the point is: If I had a baby with another man, you and I could get our own eventually and as many as we wished, but that is just never happening for Yozak; he does not have the necessary magic to have his very own baby with the person he loves, however the person he loves _is_ going to have his own child." Wolfram explained slowly, as if the speed of his speech would make it easier for Yuuri to understand and, judging by the king's expression, it was helping get the message across "Yozak just asked for a bit of time because he already decided he wants to stay with Conrart for as long as he can but doing it also means seeing one of his fantasies being fulfilled without being part of it; seeing his lover with a baby bump that will mock him and remind him that he can never be part of that, no matter how much he wants to… Do you understand better now?"

And Yuuri did, he truly did. Now that Wolfram had explained it to him he understood how Yozak must feel and it was easier to imagine the situation he was currently in and the reaction he had witnessed was much easier to wrap his mind around; if it had been him in that situation then it would also be incredibly hard to bear, that's possibly why Conrad had been nervous the whole morning even if he thought he had hidden it well and also why the news had hit him so hard, he obviously felt like he was betraying Yozak but it went beyond sharing the bed with another man: It was about a future they probably had already discussed taking into consideration their reality as couple and that now would be forever altered in such a sensitive way.

"I honestly never thought about it that way." Yuuri admitted sheepishly looking down at his lap "It just never occurred to me that it went beyond, well..."

"That is just because it's something that cannot happen to you." The shorter male explained never looking away from his spouse "It is something obvious you did not give that thought the possibility, it is complicated to consider things that one does not expect to experience by themselves."

"I still feel guilty for thinking badly of Yozak." Yuri admitted running a hand through his hair, the blond soldier nodded understanding.

"It will be all right, they will work something out." Wolfram assured "I am just curious about how it will work out with the baby's other father, we have no idea who it is and how they will react to the news."

"You really are curious about it, aren't you?" The older male let out a huff and turned his head away trying to hide his blush.

"I just do not understand why he keeps hiding things from us." The Maou chuckled and threw his arms around his lover's shoulders to pull him against his chest.

"Give him time, he's had to hide a lot of things before so it can't be easy for him to talk about stuff like this with us." Wolfram relaxed and let himself be held.

"I suppose so." The couple stayed in silence for a few minutes, falling into a peaceful moment until the green-eyed Mazoku spoke once again "Yuuri, you are not allowed to spy on them later today."

"... Ok."

* * *

Of course, the King always did as he wanted and, this time, he wanted to listen in again... Wolfram didn't need to know this though. The double black found himself hidden behind the bookshelf just waiting for Yozak to return, Conrad was still in there apparently going over some paperwork; Yuuri wasn't sure if he had left the office at all in the day but he couldn't blame him if he hadn't. It still surprised Yuuri that he was able to spy on them without Conrad finding out, he was better than anyone he knew at detecting hidden people but stress was a dangerous enemy for the brunet, as if the more he had it the less perceptive he was; Wolfram had the same problem even though Gwendal seemed to work better under pressure.

There was a knock at the door and the Maou could see Conrad tense briefly before letting out a breath trying to relax, he put the paper he had been reading aside to the small pile at the right end of the desk and turned to look at the door.

"Come in." Yuuri heard the door open and close and then footsteps in front of the shelf, the redhead appeared in his line of vision shortly after; Conrad's face appeared to be calm but there was nervousness written all over his posture and interlaced hands which seemed to be holding a little too tightly to one another. Yozak took his previous seat without another word and they stayed silent, blue eyes locked on the floor while brown ones seemed to be looking for something to focus on other than the male at the other side of the desk.

"I heard Lord von Christ was here earlier today." Yuuri was surprised that those were the first words coming out of the spy's mouth, part of him wanted to face-palm at it but he decided against it; it was hard enough to keep his breathing as silent as possible as it was "How did that go?"

"Since I did not tell him anything and said I would not until I told everyone else he wasn't really ecstatic but he did not try to push it either; I have a feeling Gwendal asked him to check up on me before he left this morning." Yozak nodded at the answer and another awkward silence stretched between them but they all knew the one who had to speak up here was the redhead and he had to do it at some point.

"I… I don't want us to end here." The blue-eyed man finally raised his head to look at his lover who looked back at him still not relaxing his posture "This is, definitely, not something I expected would happen to us… but it did and there is no way to change it now and… And I do know you want this baby to be born, if you didn't you wouldn't have told me and you might have done something dangerous, very dangerous for a half-breed, and if anything happened to you I just wouldn't be able to take it… I really appreciate you being honest with me about this and not forcing me into anything, you are letting me choose what I want to do and I've decided…"

Both of Yozak's hands wrapped around Conrad's and the monarch could see the bemusement in his Godfather's eyes, the spy's back was to him though so he was missing half of the 'action'; however he was pretty sure the expression he was missing was anything but bad.

"If you allow me, I want to be part of this with you." Yuuri could almost hear the smile as the sentence was spoken, the brunet relaxed visibly and his own smile broke, the terrestrial had missed that smile "If you let me I want to do this together with you and be there, if it means that our relationship will keep working I am willing to do this and, besides… we did plan for a kid in the future anyway, right? So, if you accept me I promise to do anything you ask of me."

"Yozak…" When they started leaning into each other over the desk Yuuri turned away, it seemed almost hypocritical to do it when he was already so deep into their business but he still felt odd looking at other people sharing affection openly in front of him no matter how natural he knew it was in some parts of Earth, hell he couldn't even get used to the idea of initiating public displays of affection with Wolfram yet and they had been married for years but part of him was still like that, he couldn't even see his own parents kissing without feeling slightly uncomfortable. The brunet's voice made him look back at the pair, both back in their own seats but still holding hands, Conrad looking so at ease now that his previous attitude almost seemed like a bad dream "You have no idea what this means to me."

"You knew I would end up doing it anyway." Yozak half-joked, in his own relaxed stance he had changed positions again and was now sitting sideways on the chair like he had been earlier "However, as much as I wish this was it, there is one more thing that needs to be taken care of, right?"

"Yes." There was that nervous stance again so no, it was not just some kind of dream "I need to speak with that man again and tell him everything."

"How do you think he will react?" There was a key of apprehension to the question but, at least, now they were two.

"I have no idea." Conrad confessed with a sigh, he looked at the desk for a moment and then raised his head to look at the man across him, there was a faint smile on his face "But something tells me to have faith in him."

"Who is he, anyway?" Ah! There it was! The ten-million yen question! Yuuri's heart skipped a beat as he leaned in impossibly closer without touching the shelf, this was so exci-

"Do you remember Shouri?" Yuuri's heart stopped all-together.

* * *

**TBC~**


	3. Breaking the good news

**Fanfiction title:**Triple threat _(Working title)_

**Fanfiction summary:**One is exciting, two is nerve-wracking, but THREE might just be their demise. Because there's just something about pregnancies that makes everyone lose their minds.

**Chapter title:**Breaking the good news.

**Chapter number:**3/?

**A/N: **… OK so, it took me still way too long and this chapter is still much longer than what I had anticipated from this story, but the more serious stuff is still happening so maybe next chapter will be just as long (actually, that's what I'm fearing) but I hope to keep it interesting, of course you all know what will be happening next, don't you? Next episode will deal with emotions just as much as chapter two did but the situation is completely different to the previous one because of the kind of relationship Conrad and Shouri have.

ALSO, I'd like to know what you would like me to do with Shouri as far as his romantic life goes: Should I just leave him single? Try to pair him up with someone (If so, with whom)? Pull the strings towards a polyamorous relationship with Yozak and Conrad? If you have an opinion on this I would like to hear it!

I'd be happy to hear your opinion on my story with your reviews. Also please remember English is not my first language and I don't have a beta reader so please forgive me for each and every spelling and grammatical mistake you find.

Without further ado, please enjoy!

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**Chapter 1: ****Breaking the good news**

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Dinner last night had had an appetizer of shock, main dish of questioning with a side of culpability and a desert with an awkward taste. The news about the other father's identity had come as a shock to everyone, Yuuri didn't even need to pretend to be shocked; he hadn't still recovered from when he heard it back in the office. Gwendal was, easily, the most scandalized one with the news, not knowing how to voice his questions and letting Günter do it for him. Conrad answered honestly everything he was asked by his former teacher, despite how hilarious it resulted to see the noble couple's roles reversed, the Maou couldn't enjoy the show and focused instead on listening to each and every answer his godfather gave.

Apparently, that night they had just been talking to one another when Sangria offered them each a cup of wine from her tray which they accepted, after that, Conrad remembered they kept talking and they both had two more cups of wine before his memories became flashes of them going into a room and sleeping together, snippets too confusing to even make sense of what was actually going on but enough to be sure the morning after that it _had_ happened. The next morning Conrad had been the one to awaken first and the slight pain in his lower back along with the state of undress both, he and Shouri, were in and the mess of a bed -Conrad's- they were lying on was enough proof of what had happened. As Conrad was trying to think on what to do about the situation Shouri had woken up and promptly freaked out. Once the brown-eyed male had calmed the Earth Maou down, they agreed on leaving it all behind as if it had never happened and keep the secret to themselves, which was now impossible and Shouri had to know the new situation they were in... But Conrad didn't want to go to Earth saying he would feel more at ease if they could talk in Covenant Castle -not that anyone could blame him- so Yuuri offered to bring his brother to Shin Makoku instead, which leads them to where they were now.

"I'll be sure not to let anything slip." Yuuri promised to his godfather as he, Wolfram -after being assured that it was perfectly safe for him to travel to the other world and taking advantage of the fact no morning sickness was present when he woke up- and Murata got ready to leave, since they were only going to be gone for a day on Earth they didn't deem it necessary to bring anyone else with them. Conrad would have about three days in the Demon Kingdom to get ready for the talk since he needed to prepare for each and every reaction Shouri could show, while the ex-prince knew Shouri would never be cruel, this was unexpected at best and something that didn't fall into the double-black's future plans so he could still react badly; obviously he was more wary of this conversation than he had been of the one with Yozak "We'll be back soon."

"Have a safe trip all of you." Gwendal said in his ever- serious tone, Günter stood by his side with his hands folded in front of his chest and looking about to cry just like he always did whenever Yuuri had to leave. Conrad stood by their side with a small smile trying to look as passive as ever since he had first met his Maou's father. The double-black nodded with a smile of his own, Murata stepped up next to him and gave a playful smirk.

"I will take care of these two, I'll make sure they don't get in trouble as usual." The Sage said earning a glare from Yuuri and Wolfram before the King took his hand, already holding onto Wolfram's with his other one and throwing a _'see ya!_' over his shoulder to his guardians as they jumped into the Castle's bathtub, feeling instantly the rush of water around them transporting them to Earth.

Before long, the travelers were gasping for air in a different, much smaller, bathtub at the double-black ruler's terrestrial home.

"Yuu-chan!" A loud shriek startled the tangled males only to find themselves being choked by a pair of slender arms wrapping around their necks in a tight hug "You brought Ken-chan and Wolf-chan as well!"

"Mom, let go!" Yuuri struggled trying to break free from the woman's grasp but she only finally relented when a big hand fell on her shoulder and a voice behind her called.

"Honey, you have to let them breathe." Shouma pulled gently on his wife's shoulder who obliged with a pout and a small whine. As soon as the newcomers were let free, they inhaled deeply letting air flow back through their windpipes "You ok over there, guys?"

"Yeah, _*gasp*_ thanks." Yuuri wheezed reaching for the hand his father was offering him. Once he was out, Yuuri turned to help his husband out of the tub while the bespectacled male was helped by Shouma. Miko opted to help them by picking up some towels from the shelf so they could dry up.

"Over two years traveling to this same place and you still don't know how to be any less noisy." The young demon monarch paused from toweling his hair to look at the door where he saw his older brother leaning against the doorframe with his arms folded over his chest. Yuuri's heart skipped a beat upon seeing Shouri there, part of him wishing he could tell him right there all about Conrad's situation and have his own interrogation session with him but the other part of him was telling him that he didn't really want to know anything and should just keep his promise to his godfather and let them deal with this all by themselves.

"Good to see you too, my best friend's big brother." Murata decided to speak up, surely noticing Yuuri was taking too long to come up with a reply "Even after over two years you still don't know how to be cordial with your guests."

"More like invaders." The taller male said with a sneer, Yuuri still didn't understand why those two never seemed to get along even after they have known each other for a while now and, really, Murata has been nothing but helpful to the kingdom so Shouri had no real reason to dislike him this much "You barely come back anymore and still you expect to be welcomed with open arms."

"Shou-chan!" Miko called with a stern tone "Don't be rude! They are family and you should never treat your family badly!"

"That one is not family." Shouri said nodding towards Ken who was still smiling obnoxiously "And Wolfram is political family."

"I am still family, Shouri." Wolfram said walking up to his brother-in-law after thanking the brown-eyed woman sincerely for her words and fixing him with a glare which prompted the taller male to let him through the door, knowing fully well that he would be going to Yuuri's bedroom for a change of clothes, having his very own selection safe there for when he came to visit, although, Yuuri didn't mind sharing his clothes with his consort.

"To what do we owe your visit, Yuuri?" Shouma asked genuinely curious as Murata walked past Shouri with a smirk to get his own set of clothes and change in the guest room, it had some of the Sage's personal items so he could be comfortable in the house whenever they traveled back to this bathtub, however, whenever he asked the Maou to help him get back so he could attend college they traveled to Murata's own house instead for practicality. Yuuri never really stayed on Earth when he was doing his friend this favor and Conrad had once joked he was like a lift-boy, he sometimes felt the title fitting "You were here barely three days ago and you usually only come back once a week."

"There's something I need to talk to you guys about." Lively black eyes turned to meet with similar ones behind thin frames "And I'm glad you all are here to hear them, perfect timing."

"Is everything all right, Yuu-chan?" Jennifer asked concerned but her youngest son flashed her a confident smile and nodded.

"Nothing to worry about but we need to tell you this so, could you please wait in the living room for a few minutes so I can change?" The bathroom still seemed a little crumpled even when two people had already left. The oldest male present nodded his head with a small smile.

"Sure, we'll see you in a bit then." Taking his wife by the wrist and motioning Shouri to move, Shouma led the way to the living room. Letting herself being pulled, Miko got lost in thought for a few seconds before her instincts kicked in forcing a squeal out of her that startled the males around her but she refused to explain the reaction, silently hoping her maternal and feminine intuition was right once again.

* * *

Yuuri entered his room to find Wolfram already changed and sitting at the bed waiting for him, as opposed to the time he took to get ready back on the Demon kingdom, the fire wielder was actually much faster getting ready in his casual terrestrial clothing. The double black smiled tenderly at his spouse, noticing instantly the nervous movement of his legs and the way his slim fingers clenched and unclenched the hem of his shirt.

"You ok, Wolf?" The blond held the other's gaze for a few seconds before sighing and looking down at his lap.

"Do you think they will be happy with the news?" Yuuri made a humming noise and moved to his closet to get something to change into, with his back still to his lover he answered.

"Of course they won't be happy," Peering over his shoulder at the intake of breath he heard he smirked playfully "They'll be ecstatic."

"You wimp!" Yuuri ducked his head at the pillow Wolfram threw at him, laughing merrily and immediately taking note of the now-relaxed posture the fire-wielder offered.

"It'll be fine, Wolf; I can assure you that." Finally picking something to wear and picking up his pillow to put it back where it belonged he left everything on his bed and started to undress "I hope you're ready for mom taking you shopping for maternity clothes as soon as we tell them the news."

"Why do you think I went with pastels today?" Wolfram's eyes _may_ have lingered _a bit_ on the half-breed's torso as he changed shirts but he needed to stay focused "I think a pink shirt and aqua trousers can pass off as feminine enough for us to go around the section without having too many weird gazes fixed on us."

"It does give you a feminine aura." Specially the 'trousers' –actually skintight jeans that Yuuri knew would draw far too much attention- that really accentuated the hips and took focus off the flat chest, besides, with the long, loose sleeves of the shirt the muscles on his arms were barely noticeable and he could pass as a girl for the most part without an issue "Be sure to scare off any male… or suspicious female before they even so much as say a word to you, Mom tends to tell me all about the people who hit on you whenever you go out without me and I don't really feel like listening to any more of those anecdotes, even less now."

"I do not feel like being part of those stories either so rest assured I shall not let you down, your Majesty." The title was said with mockery and Yuuri lightly kicked his husband's shin while trying to finish pulling his pants all the way up his legs so he could button them "Hey!"

"You asked for it." The double-black bent down to rub his nose against Wolfram's for just a couple of seconds, both smiling at the calm air that surrounded them without the worries the pure-blooded demon might have previously had. The Maou took his consort's hand and helped him off the bed leading him to the door "C'mon, everyone must be waiting for us."

"Ok." And with that, the royal couple left to join their terrestrial family in the living room.

* * *

Four pair of eyes looked up at the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs. Murata had already changed into some dry clothing and was just waiting around to see how the family would take the news, more specifically, Shouri... Ok so Yuuri could kind of understand why some of the animosity between the two of them, but Shouri should be mature enough to know he didn't have to pay mind to anything his fellow bespectacled male did if he was fully aware that a reaction is exactly what the younger boy was expecting to get out of him. Without saying a word, Yuuri and Wolfram sat on the couple of chairs their hosts had set across the couch where the Shibuya family was seated, the Daikenja sat on the armchair by himself comfortably enough.

"Ok, we have some big news to share with everyone." The youngest Shibuya spoke up while looking at the expectant faces in front of him, his hand holding his husband's tightening for a moment a and receiving the same gesture in return. He let a couple of seconds pass increasing the tension before smiling widely and exclaiming "We're having a baby!"

"I knew it!" The only female yelled excitedly rising from the couch to strangle the boys once again with one of her bone-crushing hugs. The young couple tried to break free for the second time in less than twenty-five minutes but they were smiling at the reaction; the woman was delighted and it filled them with so much relief they didn't know it was possible "Oh my gosh, I'm so happy for you! And for me too! I'm going to be a grandma again!"

"Mom, let us breathe!" Yuuri pushed against his mother's shoulders making sure not to be disrespectful and relaxed when the woman actually loosened her hold on them. He was so happy right now, and her words also reminded him that one of the first –if not _the _first- letters he was writing as soon as they got back to the other world would be to Greta.

"It's 'Mama', Yuu-chan!" The brunette said, the Demon King suddenly felt his mom's shoulders shaking lightly making him turn his head as much as he could only to find tears streaming down the female's pale cheeks.

"Mom?!" Yuuri pushed against his mother a little more firmly in order to get a good look at her, he could barely see half of Wolfram's face with the little space there was but he seemed just as shocked and worried as he felt "Mom, are you ok?!"

"I'm ok, Yuu-chan." The questioned woman assured letting go completely and bringing a hand up to dry her tears delicately with a finger, there was a tender smile on her face despite the tearstains "I'm just so happy."

"Mom…" Yuuri exhaled the word, hearing Wolfram's _'Mother' _being spoken in much the same fashion; without turning to look at the blond he could bet Wolfram's own eyes were sparkling with unshed tears.

"Is it true?" A new voice joined the conversation, Shouma stood next to his wife looking down at the couple with a mix of incredulity and hope in his black eyes.

"It is, dad." The 27th Maou nodded once and now his dad was also wearing a smile of his own, the taller male opened his arms wide and motioned with his hands for the expecting couple to get in the embrace; both of them did it without hesitation and, while the embrace was not nearly as strong as the one they previously received, it was just as warm. Shouma didn't cry but he was just as happy as his wife, anyone could tell.

Looking over his father's shoulder, Yuuri could easily see Shouri's wide eyes and open mouth in easily one of the most priceless expressions anyone had seen in the usually more emotionless male. Shouri knew about male pregnancy in Mazoku just like their parents did so that couldn't be what had him so surprised, it had to be the fact it was his little brother they were talking about. As they were freed from the hug, Yuuri took his husband's hand again and walked closer to Shouri who kept his gaze dancing between the royal couple as if not sure which one of them he should be looking at.

"Shouri?"

"Which…" Apparently, hearing his name had awakened the bespectacled Maou enough for him to form words so everyone kept quiet waiting for him to finish "Which… Which one of you is carrying the baby?"

Everyone in the room felt like either face-palming or hitting Shouri over the head when they heard the question, everyone but Murata who started guffawing as if it was just the funniest thing he had ever heard. Yuuri just groaned and Wolfram raised his hand in the air to answer the question before opening his mouth.

"Is that _seriously_ the first thing you're saying to us after hearing the news?"

"Well, I had to ask!" Shouri replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, turning to glare harshly at the sage who had the decency to, at least, try to stifle his laughter. The Earth Maou then turned back to the people he should be focusing all his attention on "I also have to ask, is this something you both want? Are you completely sure about this?"

"I thought dad was supposed to ask this, not you." Yuuri chuckled, already getting over his initial reaction to his brother's first question "If you want us to be honest, it was something unexpected… unplanned, but we thought about it and we truly want this, it's already happening and we're happy about it."

"It is kind of soon, we thought we would not get here for a few years still… Or that was the plan but things happen for a reason, right?" Wolfram added in his two cents, his frown turned upside-down as he got ready for the next revelation "And, I mean, maybe the baby is coming now so he or she wouldn't be alone; there will be a playmate in the Castle."

"What do you mean, Wolf-chan?" Jennifer asked curiously, Wolfram turned happily towards her.

"Big Brother and Günter are also expecting."

"What?!" Yelled three voices at the same time, the lone female in the house let out another squeal.

"Günter and I are about the same time in, the birth should take place around the same date so our child will have a cousin to play with when they are born." The emerald-eyed Mazoku said focusing his attention on his eldest in-laws. Miko jumped forward and took hold of both his hands, jumping in place like an excited kid.

"We have to go shopping for clothes! For both of you!" She exclaimed "When are you leaving?"

"First thing tomorrow." Wolfram answered, the woman let go of his hands and moved to hold her youngest child's ones instead.

"Yuu-chan, tell me you're taking me back with you to help with the pregnancy, pleeeeaaaassseeeee!"

"I can't for the moment, mom." The pout on the brunette's face made Yuuri continue before the woman would start crying again, from sadness this time "But I will! I already asked Gisela and she said towards the last part of the pregnancy I can take you to Covenant Castle to help us out, until then it's better you stay away; even Lady Cheri is going on a trip for a few months until then."

"Well…" Brown eyes searched for any kind of lie in the midnight ones of the former baseball player but, finding none, she sighed resigned "Fine, but promise you'll take me there when you're allowed to!"

"Promise, mom." With that settled, Miko took hold of Wolfram's wrist and pulled him hurriedly to the front door.

"Come on, Wolf-chan, we have a lot of shopping to do before you leave!"

"Wait!" Everyone stood still at the sound of Shouri's voice, five pairs on eyes focused on him and he cleared his throat, looking at his little brother's lover straight to his eyes "Congratulations." He then met gazes with his brother and spoke again "I mean it."

"Oh, Shou-chan!" Shouri found himself in one of his mother's bone-crushing hugs in an instant but he easily felt how the feeling he got from everyone changed drastically from the one he had previously sensed, even Yuuri's annoying friend's smile wasn't really mocking anymore and even had a proud air to it "You still hold high your title as my son!"

"Please let go, mom." And the woman did without any more prompting.

"It's _'Mama'_, Shou-chan." Miko said before turning to go to the door "Well, we better get going!"

"I'll take my leave was well." Murata rose from his seat and went to join the other people at the door "I'll come back tomorrow after breakfast, Shibuya!"

"You're lucky it's a weekend and I have to wait for you." Yuuri joked but nodded none-the-less.

"I have to go out for a bit as well." The Maou's father said walking towards the door as well "I want to get a few things from the Combini, anyone want anything?"

After receiving negative answers from everyone, the Earth Mazoku held open the door for everyone to leave before him. Once the front door closed it was just Yuuri and Shouri in the living room and, suddenly, the weight of the world seemed to have fallen on Yuuri's shoulders as he remembered what he was supposed to tell his brother the moment he got the chance and this sudden privacy was more convenient than it seemed logical.

"Are you going to be ok?" The older of the two asked suddenly, there were no ill-feelings in his tone of voice but he sounded genuinely concerned "I don't know when it was that you planned on having children but you're too young still, aren't you?"

"Well, we also married young." Yuuri said with a chuckle while rubbing the back of his head trying to make a joke but sounding strained in the end, he sighed noticing that himself "Yeah, we were going to wait for a few years still… Maybe five or six in Earth's time to even start seriously thinking on our first one but… I'm happy, you know?"

"… Just out of honest curiosity," The shorter teen didn't like how that started "If you _didn't_ want the child, is there a way in which you could… you know…"

"…Stop the pregnancy?" The questioned male nodded, looking at his brother's face but not quite meeting his eyes; Yuuri was a little conflicted about the question but something inside of him told him that if he didn't answer that now then someone else would and something told him It would be a certain brown-eyed half-breed "Yeah, there's a way to do it but…"

"But?" Shouri urged his brother to continue after trailing off.

"But it's kind of risky." Yuuri finally finished "A male pregnancy is somewhat risky as it is, especially for half-breeds, and the way to stop it is even riskier than going through with the pregnancy. Wolfram did tell me he'd be willing to do it if that's what I wanted but I didn't even had to think about it to refuse; I am excited for this and if Wolfram also wants this then there's nothing else to think about."

"You actually sound pretty convinced about this." There was a tinge of awe in the taller one's tone of voice and Yuuri displayed a proud smile at that.

"I am."

Seconds passed by in which both men turned away from each other and tried to focus on anything except each other, the air was not heavy around them but it had been sometime since they had been alone in the house like this.

"… Well, today has been interesting, to say the least." Shouri broke the silence at last, stretching as long as he could go trying to ease off the tension he, apparently, had accumulated during the earlier conversation; if he only knew "I'm going to my bedroom, I'm sure you want to get some rest until mom gets back."

"Wait, Shouri," Yuuri called before his companion could take a single step, the bespectacled male turned to look at him with a raised eyebrow "I… I need to ask you for a favor."

"Sure, Yuu-chan." Even a his 18 human years old, the younger of the two still had to listen to that nickname coming from his brother's lips to refer to him "What do you need?"

"I need you to come back to the Demon Kingdom with me tomorrow." Now both of Shouri's eyebrows rose, surprised at the request; Yuuri always tried to keep him as far away from the other world as he could so this was something he really didn't expect, even less with two pregnancies taking place and after telling their mother she better stay away from the Castle for a few months.

"Why?"

"Someone needs to talk to you." Yuuri looked at the floor, not daring to meet his brother's gaze anymore "It's kind of important and I promised I would bring you back."

"Who is it?" The taller male asked suspiciously but the other soukoku just shook his head still keeping his eyes downwards.

"I can't tell you any more details." Taking a deep breath, the younger Maou forced himself to look at the person in front of him "Just trust me, come with me tomorrow?"

A few moments passed in which the only noise within the house was that of their steady breathing, Shouri looking for _anything_ his brother's eyes could reveal and Yuuri trying to shield his soul from that inquiring gaze. In the end, it was Shouri who looked away first.

"Fine, I'll go with you." He said with a nod, when he saw his brother relax at his words he went back to his room; his curiosity was high still and he was upset Yuuri hadn't told him anything more but if he knew his brother half as well as he thought he did, he shouldn't have expected anything different. He had originally planned to continue the game he had paused when he heard the commotion from the bathroom but, now, the questions running around his head wouldn't allow him to focus enough to get the good ending he so desperately wanted to reach so, instead, he would lie in bed and think on as many possibilities as he could before dinner and then some once he was supposed to be sleeping that night. He just hoped that, whatever it was that was so important, would be worth his time.

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**TBC~**


	4. Consequences

**Fanfiction title:**Triple threat _(Working title)_

**Fanfiction summary:**One is exciting, two is nerve-wracking, but THREE might just be their demise. Because there's just something about pregnancies that makes everyone lose their minds.

**Chapter title:**Consequences.

**Chapter number:**4/?

**A/N: **Finally I have this chapter finished. It's got long paragraphs! Well just a few and not really too long just longer than I'm used to. Most of this chapter will be from Shouri's POV, I'm not sure if I did as well with him as I seem to have been doing with the other characters so I hope he's IC even if he was never actually in a situation like this one in the series. Next chapter I will also focus on his POV for most of the chapter so if it worked now I hope I make it work in the next one.

I still have a long way to go with this story and I've received two responses regarding Shouri's "romantic" future in this fic but I'd like to hear more, what would you like to happen with Shouri, maybe one of the chars that doesn't have a partner or should just leave him single throughout this all? The polyamorous offer is still standing if you want something different, all up to you guys.

I'd be happy to hear your opinion on my story with your reviews. Also please remember English is not my first language and I don't have a beta reader so please forgive me for each and every spelling and grammatical mistake you find.

Without further ado, please enjoy!

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**Chapter 4: Consequences**

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Next morning came far too soon for everyone, the four males that were to travel through water stood in their bathing suits in front of the Shibuya's kiddie pool in the backyard; the tub was way too small to fit all of them and the bags they were taking back with them –ten each, already water-proofed- which contained all the clothing Jennifer had bought with Wolfram the day prior, the blond had claimed that it was too much money and that she shouldn't spend that quantity when they would be getting maternity clothes in Shin Makoku as well but the woman took none of that and insisted on buying them as much as she could with Wolfram insisting they would pay her the money back even though she claimed she'd be satisfied with sharing time with her grandchild as repayment. The blond had also confided the woman about Conrart's situation, knowing she would keep the secret from Shouri and Shouma, because he wanted to support his half-brother somehow since he knew what was in store for him with the pregnancy and receiving some clothing from Yuuri's mother especially for him would make him happy without a doubt… No-one needed to know that's why he did it though. Yuuri, of course, had no idea about his husband sharing this information with Miko until they were both in bed ready to sleep last night, the double-black said he was relieved that his mother knew because Shouri would need someone on Earth who was ready to help him in case he decided to run back home after finding out what his new situation was; better be ready for anything, right?

"Yuu-chan, remember your promise to me, okay?" Miko asked her youngest son for the umpteenth time since breakfast and Yuuri gave the same answer he had given every time.

"Of course, mom; I'd never forget."

"Wolf-chan, take care of yourself and make sure to tell Günter-san to do the same." The woman hugged her son-in-law much kinder than she had the day before so she could whisper into his ear "And tell you-know-who to do the same and that I send him my best wishes for this."

"I will, mother." Wolfram returned the embrace gratefully. When they parted, Miko turned to her eldest child with a stern expression that Shouri didn't understand.

"Shou-chan, remember everything I've taught you and keep making me proud of you, do you understand?"

"… I guess…" He really didn't but he had a feeling he didn't want to understand, even if he asked he doubted he'd get an answer so he decided to leave it at that. Out of the corner of his eye he could see his father looking just as confused as he was but had also opted for keeping his mouth shut. Turning to look at the people next to him in hopes of getting an answer he found none of them dared to meet his eyes; everyone was acting strange and that had him more on edge about his purpose back at the Demon Kingdom than he had previously been, last night's thinking and musing had done nothing for him other than giving him a restless sleep since he didn't even know where to start but Yuuri's request had him growing more and more uneasy with each passing hour. Before dinner last night, he had just assumed Yuuri might have been overreacting to something that would surely have an easy solution but when his mother hadn't complained about him going to the other world while she was told she needed to stay told him that their mother was already aware of whatever business he had to attend there and was serious enough for her to agree on his departure without protest, this reasoning was with him all throughout the night but he could not, for the life of him, figure out what he was needed for. With no real idea his anxiousness grew and it reflected on the bags under his eyes that no-one cared to point out… Although, there was a small voice in the back of his mind that told him he _did _know what was wrong and just didn't want to accept it but he decided to ignore this bothersome voice in favor of keeping his sanity as much in check as he could, he just didn't want to duel on whatever it wanted him to give a second thought to.

"OK, everyone, ready to go?" Yuuri called breaking Shouri from his inner turmoil; he needed to focus on the present, he would find out the answers soon enough. Wolfram and Murata answered verbally with an affirmation while Shouri just shrugged his shoulders and nodded. Since they all had their hands otherwise occupied, Yuuri told them to hook at the elbows once they all stepped into the kiddie pool before the water around them started sucking them downwards to start their travel to the Demon Kingdom.

Shouri held his breath for as long as he could while feeling the torrent strong against him, his free arm rose to his face to press his glasses against his nose with the back of his hand in hopes of not losing them like it had happened a couple of times before, the bags he was holding were floating violently right in front of his eyes but he paid them no mind and closed his eyelids instead. The torrent's strength fell dramatically and it was then that the Earth Maou moved his legs to impulse himself and straightened his back as much as he could, he felt the pressure of the water disappear from his head and that's when he dared to breathe in deeply, feeling air travel through his nose and mouth just like every other time he made this trip.

"Your Majesty!" And, just like in most of his previous experiences, the first thing he heard was someone greeting his little brother animatedly, this time it was Günter's turn to greet them all as they exited the royal bathtub. As Shouri's eyes adjusted to the scenery around him through the steam tarnishing his lenses he unconsciously moved to the edge of the tub, soon feeling a large hand wrapping around his arm tightly to help him steady his steps to the dry floor. He could see a white blur in front of him and reached for it, knowing it to be a towel which he used to clean his glasses; not the optimal choice but the only one he had at the moment, the bags he was carrying forgotten by his feet as he dried off.

"Shouri-sama, it's good to see you back." Shouri put his glasses back on and looked up to see Günter smiling kindly at him, behind him he could see Gwendal and Conrad offering the rest of the pack of newcomers help with the things they were carrying, if only the three of them were there to receive them he was sure the hand that had helped him out had to be Gwendal's and it also would explain why he had heard no words coming from his helper, although, they grip might have been a little tighter than needed in Shouri's opinion but maybe the man just had a strong grip in general and didn't realize just how strong he actually was.

"Thank you, Günter." The double-black said with a nod as he continued toweling his body, as he moved to his hair he remembered the violet-haired male's new situation "By the way, congratulations, I heard you were expecting."

"Oh! Yes, that is correct." Günter nodded, his gaze going to his husband for a moment before turning back to the Earth Maou with a smile that reached his eyes "Thank you, Shouri-sama."

"No need to thank me, it was quite a surprise." Shouri couldn't help but give a small smile of his own, Günter's pregnancy was much easier to handle than Wolfram's due to various reasons including the age and the fact Yuuri _was_ still his baby brother and it wasn't something that easy to swallow; this was no adopted child anyway "I bet the Castle will be busy with two pregnancies to take care of."

"Ah… Certainly." The Demon's smile seemed to have wavered for a second but his eyes might have just been playing games with him since the steam was still present and it wasn't helping his glasses.

"I bet the Kingdom must be delighted with the news." Shouri tried to keep up the conversation to see if anything had actually changed in the other man's attitude.

"Actually, the kingdom is not aware of the situation yet," Günter replied and it all made the bespectacled terrestrial all the more curious; one would think news like this would be delivered to the people as soon as possible so they could also celebrate with the nobles and the Maou himself, eagerly awaiting the arrival of the newborns "But we shall let the people know soon and we can start planning the traditional party held at the beginning of the pregnancy so the Nobles can come express their best wishes to the future parents."

"Sounds like it'll be a lot of work." The Mazoku nodded as a response before motioning to a shelf close to the bathroom door.

"We have prepared a change of clothes for you already, they are right on that shelf."

"Thank you." Shouri walked up to where Günter motioned him to, everyone else was already getting dressed, Gwendal and Conrad waiting patiently by the door. Conrad's eyes never met his but Gwendal's did and he took the chance to give him a nod "I heard the news, Gwendal, congratulations."

"Thank you." Was the curt reply he received, not that he expected anything like what he got from the commander's spouse but he also was surprised by the tone of voice; Gwendal had never been rude to him, if anything, he had assumed they could understand each other somewhat with their more silent personalities as compared to their respective families, only being talkative with certain people or in special situations but he almost felt rejected at this moment. He let it slip, maybe the eldest of the not-look-alike brothers was just in a bad mood or something, he _was_ going to be a father after all and there was also the fact that, much like Shouri himself, he had recently found out his baby brother would be having a baby of his own and, even more so, Wolfram was the one carrying the baby, not Yuuri, which had been a relief for the water-wielder but he could easily step into Gwendal's shoes; he'd be pretty stressed as well.

Shouri got dressed as fast as possible, hoping the rest wouldn't leave him behind, already used to the shirt, vest, pants and boots that were his usual garments when he got here. He had stopped growing the year prior –Earth year- and as such he already had clothes prepared for him in Covenant Castle much like Wolfram and even Conrad, Günter and Gwendal had clothes back on Earth.

"All right, we're all set!" Yuuri exclaimed walking towards the door and out to the hallway, everyone following right after him carrying the water-proofed bags except for Conrad who kept his gaze on the floor until Shouri, the last one in line who was conveniently left with nothing to carry, walked past him. The brunet rested a hand on the slightly taller male's shoulder, stopping him from going any further. The bespectacled terrestrial turned to look at his fellow half-breed, raising an eyebrow in question, warm brown eyes met his midnight ones and they looked troubled, not calm and reassuring like they tended to look; it startled the Earth Maou if he were to be honest.

"I need a word with you." Shouri narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

"Were you the one who asked Yuuri to bring me back?" The air was tense enough to drop the '-chan' and the double-black's muscles tensed upon seeing the nod he got for an answer, that voice in the back of his head trying to speak up again but he ignored it like before and stepped away from the touch "What is it you want to discuss with me?"

"Not here." Conrad said, looking down both ends of the hallway before directing his attention back to his companion, everyone else had already rounded the corner leaving them behind "In my office, is that ok?"

"I suppose so." With that, Conrad led the way to his office not looking back at Shouri once until he got to the desired door. The soldier opened the door and let his guest enter before him, closing the door after them without locking it. Still silent, Conrad took a seat at his desk, Shouri taking one of the chairs across from him sitting as tense as his host appeared to be.

"… Shouri," The thick silence was broken finally by the ex-prince, his fingers interlaced and hands resting on the desk but his eyes were on the face opposite to his "What I'm about to tell you is very important and I want to ask just a few things of you before I do it."

"What are they?" Shouri still sounded suspicious, he folded his arms over his chest in a silent sign of defensiveness of which he was aware but didn't change it.

"Do not scream, if you want to say something it shall be only when I am done saying whatever I am saying at the moment and you will not interrupt me and each and every question you have I will answer them with honesty so I want you to _listen_ to my words." Those sounded like valid points so the soukoku nodded, albeit cautiously.

"Very well." And then he kept quiet.

"I…" Conrad breathed, he looked down for a moment and then raised his gaze again "I'm pregnant."

"… Come again?"

"I'm pregnant." The brown-eyed man repeated, his companion looking as though he really didn't understand the words coming out of his mouth "I'm four weeks in."

"Four weeks…" Shouri trailed off doing math in his head rather quickly and coming to a startling discovery "Wait, you don't mean-"

"Precisely." It was Conrad who interrupted but there were no rules against him doing it "I got pregnant during Mother's birthday party."

"What?" This was _not _happening, this _couldn't _be happening to him! This had to be some kind of sick joke planned by Conrad to get a good laugh out of it!

"The baby is yours." It was said with so much conviction that it made any more ideas about it being a joke jump out the window, much like the terrestrial wanted to do right about now.

"No, wait." It took all of Shouri's self-control not to raise his voice, his folded arms tensed to the point where blood vessels were easily visible under his skin "You're a half-breed, I thought half-breeds could only get pregnant if they possessed Maryoku."

"It isn't necessary for _me_ to have Maryoku if my _partner's _Maryoku is strong enough for the both of us… Strong enough to awaken the genes that allow me to get pregnant and take the product to the very end." The bespectacled male almost felt like he was back to elementary school and was being explained something he'd been told plenty of times before but he still couldn't wrap his mind around this, he just _couldn't_.

"No, wait, so-" It was as if he couldn't form a coherent sentence, one of his hands went to his head, fingers threading through his raven hair in what appeared to be a way to arrange his thoughts "So… So this is _my_ fault?"

"It is nobody's fault Shouri." Conrad assured, he lifted an arm towards the other male but decided against it and returned it to the desk, palm against its surface "It was the wine, it was spiked and it caused a lot of trouble for a lot of people that night; we were unable to foresee it."

"But..." It _was_ his fault regardless, in a twisted kind of way, it was because of his very own power that this happened; his Maryoku was strong enough to initiate, maintain and finish a pregnancy in a half-breed and this wouldn't have happened if they hadn't spent the night together, if he hadn't drunk wine, if he hadn't come to the party "... What are we going to do now?"

"Listen, you do not have to feel obligated to do anything." Conrad assured, his tone as calm and reassuring as he could manage and Shouri appreciated it somewhere in the depths of his mind that still held some logic but it did nothing for the distress he still felt "I am telling you this because I think you have the right to know and you also have the right to choose whether you want to be a part of this or not."

"You're keeping it?" The question flew out of his mouth before the double-black could even think about it and he regretted it the moment he saw the usually placid face change into one of surprise "Sorry! Sorry, I just-"

"No, I understand why you ask." Conrad said raising his hands in front of his chest, he let out a sigh and relaxed his posture "I cannot deny I gave a thought to getting rid of it but, in reality, it is safer for me to keep it and... also... I don't know, I already feel like I would not be able to get rid of it even if it was a choice but that is _my_ decision and you do not need to feel obligated to do anything about it, I just thought you had the right to know about this and, as I said, you can choose whether to take part or not."

"I... I..." What could he say? "Can I have some time to think about it?"

"Of course, take as long as you need."

Shouri stood up and walked as silently as he could out of the office, closing the door softly once he was out. His mind still not able to catch up with what was actually happening, what he had done... Even if Conrad had said it wasn't his fault he couldn't help but feel somewhat guilty about this all, he had always prided himself of being one step ahead of everything but it just had to fail now and in a way that literally would change his life forever; a baby was the result of his foolishness.

The double black could still remember the day of the party; he had accepted to attend because Lady Celli had insisted and he couldn't say no to the woman but he had promised himself he would not have a sip of wine throughout the whole night and told himself over and over that the top priority was to check on his brother knowing the younger Maou would actually have a cup of wine or two just because of formalities with other rulers since he was of "legal age" by Shin Makoku standards, when had that changed? At what point did his focus switch from looking over his brother to enjoying himself in the celebration? At what point had it seemed like talking to Conrad would be a good idea? It had been his biggest mistake and now he had changed his life and _Conrad's_ life forever, they weren't even together; they would never be together, they didn't have feelings for each other and their night together was never supposed to happen and now a baby was on its way and Conrad wanted to keep it and had told him he could decide whether or not to take part in its life and... And he... What did he want?

Up to this moment in his life he had never thought about having children of his own even less so early in his life, he had planned on fulfilling his professional goals before he did anything else, he wanted to be governor and he had to be at his very best to take his rightful place as Bob's successor and keep helping Yuuri the best he could but a baby would certainly get in the way of it since the child would need attention... Of course, he could always say he didn't want anything to do with the child and act as if had never happened; he could keep on living his life the way he had planned, it was that simple... However... What was this feeling of dread that came with that thought?

"Shouri-sama?" Shouri jumped at the sudden voice calling him, he looked around realizing he had been wandering aimlessly through the castle and had ended up leaning his back against the wall outside the library, Günter was standing in front of him, the library door open telling him the older male had just stepped out of the room; was he being too noisy, enough to get the man out of a room to check on him? Or was it just a coincidence? "Are you feeling well?"

"Of course I-" The questioned male stopped in mid-sentence, he didn't really feel like lying "I'm sorry, I'm just…"

"Confused?" The Maou's advisor offered, his pale hands neatly folded over his chest "Baffled? Befuddled? Shaken? Restless?"

"And then some." Shouri spoke up before Günter could give more adjectives that described his feelings perfectly but, at the same time, not quite "You know about Conrad, don't you?"

"I do." Günter conceded with a nod, the soukoku took a deep breath and exhaled, he wasn't surprised by that but it gave him a chance now.

"I need to speak with someone." Shouri didn't even know why he was asking for the Von Christ family head to listen to what he had to say but there was an aura about him that screamed 'perfect' at the moment, perfect to listen to him and, maybe, even help him out, he was an advisor after all so there was not a chance this was a bad idea, right? Besides, he couldn't think of anyone he _wanted_ to talk to right about now; not Yuuri or his parents, not Wolfram or Gwendal or even Ulrike and_ definitely_ not Murata or Shinou, the rest of the people in the Castle wouldn't do either, he didn't want anyone too close to him but he didn't want a stranger to listen to his thoughts either and just looking at the violet-haired demon he felt a little more at ease than he had since finding out about the pregnancy, this man also had a few years on him and surely he must know at least _something_ that could help him with his current predicament, Günter was smart and wise and witty when he wanted to and Yuuri never complained about his ideas or suggestions, claiming the swordsman to be one of the most important members of his 'royal team' and stating he wouldn't be able to make half the decisions he did without Günter's intervention… And maybe Shouri needed a pregnant man to listen to his thoughts regarding another pregnant male, it may sound silly but it made sense to him.

"Would you like to find a more peaceful place to have this conversation?" Günter proposed smiling warmly, Shouri didn't understand how he could look so cordial even when he was sure to know what it is that the Earth Maou wanted to tell him but it did a lot more for his nerves than he expected "I think privacy is important and there is a place in the garden we can use for this conversation, it is a rather quiet spot."

"Sounds great." Shouri already felt like he had made the right choice, one right choice at least after the poor ones he had made a few nights back.

* * *

"Captain?" Conrad looked up at the door upon hearing that voice "Are you all right?"

"Yozak." The brunet breathed relieved, the conversation with Shouri had left him drained due to the stress he had been carrying the last few days and the heavy weight that had settled on his shoulders as soon as the double-black had stepped into his office, he had felt so tired when the terrestrial had left that he had decided to rest his arms on the desk and hiding his face in them feeling as though he could fall asleep at any moment; the redhead coming in had him feeling more awake "It actually went better than expected."

"What's that supposed to mean?" The spy asked cautiously while taking a seat in the same chair Shouri had used mere moments before, the door closed once again to assure some kind of secrecy; the maids and other servants had been surprisingly respectful of the closed doors lately, not trying to overhear anything like they usually would, he had to guess it had something to do with Anissina since the woman was also considerably tamer than usual lately and it was likely she had asked everyone to stay low until everything had settled down… Or because she was still doing new inventions and she may or may have not told everyone in the castle she would use whoever dared to meddle into the former royal family's business as energy generator for each and every one of her experiments.

"He stayed until the very end, respected all that I asked of him and never said anything rude to me." The younger man explained with a barely-there smile on his face "Much like you, he asked for some time to sort out his thoughts, whatever he decides to do is absolutely up to him."

"I'm glad to hear that, I guess." Yozak replied with a small smile of his own which disappeared far too quickly and got replaced by a frown "Can I confess something?"

"Sure, anything." Conrad answered confused, the taller male reached out to him and he met his hand halfway to provide some kind of reassurance.

"I'm scared."

"Of what?" The confession had been but a whisper that the brunet wouldn't have been able to hear had it not been for the otherwise silent room.

"Of him deciding to take part in this." Blue orbs met brown and they did look scared at the idea "What if he decides he wants to take you back to Earth and have the baby there? Or what if he waits until the child is born and then wants to take you both to live with him in the other world? Or what if he decides the baby would be better off on Earth and wants to take them away from you?"

"Yozak," Conrad called his lover's name to keep his attention focused on him "You have nothing to worry about."

"But what if it happens?" The redhead insisted; he needed an answer "What if he wants to take you away?"

"He won't." The pregnant man answered with that confidence that made him always so reliable "Shouri will not take me or the baby away."

"How can you be so sure?" Conrad's smile grew and it was him who reached out to the other this time, once again the hands met halfway and went next to the previously interlaced ones on the desk.

"Because I trust him." Was the honest answer "I trust him, I know he will not be separating us if he decides to take part in this and he won't force me to do anything I do not want to do; something inside me tells me everything will be fine, I do not know what his response to this all will be but I know deep inside that whatever it is will be good for all of us and I still have faith that it can only go uphill from here."

"But still..." Conrad's hands moved to hold Yozak's face in place as soon as he saw the spy lowering his gaze, forcing him to stop his sentence and keep his eyes locked to his best friend's.

"It will be fine." The firm grip softened as Conrad continued "And even _if_ anything of the sort were to come up, we will cross that bridge when we get there, you understand?"

"… Yes captain." Yozak finally relaxed and pressed into one of the palms on his cheeks, closing his eyes an letting out a breath before looking at the man in front of him again and smiling playfully "By the way, I'm here on a mission from his Majesty."

"Really now?" Conrad quirked an eyebrow and smirked, withdrawing his hands in order to lean back on his chair and cross his arms over his chest in a challenging manner "What could it be so important that his Majesty asked you to accomplish?"

"I'm but a mere messenger, Captain." Yozak playfully straightened his back and puffed out his chest as if proud of being 'a mere messenger', a poor try at a serious expression on his face but the younger half-breed appreciated the sentiment of lighting the mood from his beloved "The young master wants you in his chambers in about forty minutes."

"Did he say why?" The brown-eyed male asked genuinely curious to which he received an honest shrug.

"He only said he had a surprise prepared and that you better be there or he'll come get you himself." Conrad chuckled fondly at that, knowing his godson was serious even in that still adorable way of his –in his eyes at least-.

"I guess I have no option but to attend the meeting."

* * *

TBC~


	5. Decisions

**Fanfiction title:**Triple threat _(Working title)_

**Fanfiction summary:**One is exciting, two is nerve-wracking, but THREE might just be their demise. Because there's just something about pregnancies that makes everyone lose their minds.

**Chapter title: **Decisions.

**Chapter number:**5/?

**A/N: **At last, it's done! It's time to see how it goes for Shouri; I know you already knew what was going to happen but I hope I still managed to make it interesting and the ending might not actually be what you had expected and next chapter will have the last "important" conversation regarding the people involved, also hope to add more about how the pregnancies will work out in the next chapter but that depends on the length and how I end up writing it.

Also, I wanted to ask you guys if you like the current title or if you have any ideas for a new name for story because I'm honestly in blank, I have no ideas so if you have any feel free to share them!

I'd be happy to hear your opinion on my story with your reviews. Also please remember English is not my first language and I don't have a beta reader so please forgive me for each and every spelling and grammatical mistake you find.

Without further ado, please enjoy!

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**Chapter 5: Decisions**

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"Please, take a seat, Shouri-sama." Günter said kindly, motioning to a single bench under a huge tree of what appeared to be oranges even though Shouri knew they weren't. The place did look peaceful and no servants were around, the shadow provided by the tree protected them from the bright sun that greeted everyone that day and the place seemed to house a family of birds if the chirping they heard was anything to go by. The soukoku sat down knowing his companion would never dare to rest before he did, once they were both off their feet they kept silent for a few seconds which did something for Shouri's nerves, not much, but something at least and then he heard the elder's calm voice again "Many claim to have powers to foresee what the future holds, they say they have powers very few possess and are able to tell you what will be of your life in years to come, whatever it may be you want to know, they will tell you what awaits you. However, after years of experience, I've come to learn that they cannot actually tell you what will happen but they are amazingly skilled at reading people and piecing bits of information together and so, they can make a pretty accurate assumption of what you want for your life in the future and the only thing they do is helping you achieve it by giving you advice on how to act when opportunities arise; it is not what you expect of them but it serves the purpose of helping you and feel positive about oncoming years."

Shouri frowned and turned to look at the beautiful man, in his defensive state of mind he wondered if he was being mocked for his generally cautious ways as if afraid of whatever may happen in the near future but the more logical part of his brain told him to stay quiet and listen because an opening speech like that was only to give way to the real topic of conversation, even if he had asked for someone to listen to him, there was something about this situation that told him he needed to be the one with his mouth closed at the moment. The demon's light eyes were fixed on one of the white flowers hanging above them as the breeze moved it slightly, if the man hadn't been talking Shouri would have thought he had been hypnotized by the movement, he had to wonder what it was about looking up that helped most people speak profoundly but he would be lying if he said he didn't turn his gaze to a distant point before making an statement he felt important; it could be, maybe, that focusing on an apparently mundane object put them at ease, enough to allow them to speak freely.

"When I found out about my pregnancy, I was frustrated." The advisor admitted, he kept looking up for a few seconds in which Shouri let the confession sink in because, really, the violet-haired man feeling _frustrated_ over a pregnancy with the person he _loved_? The whole concept sounded impossible but Shouri knew he wasn't being lied to. Günter met his gaze and continued "I am a father, I took a child under my care over sixty years ago and thought she would be my only one. I never thought of myself as a man who could compromise and get married, I never thought on having my own children no matter if I impregnated someone else or I carried the child myself. I raised my daughter the best I could and I love her very much, she was my closest family and I just assumed the decision of the next head of the von Christ family would come in quite a few years into the future; maybe Gisela would get married into the family or maybe she would decline the title, maybe she would take it without marriage and the rest of my family would have to accept her since she already has my family name. I had decided, years ago, not to worry about it until I considered it necessary and just focus on my present, serving my ruler and playing my part as advisor and loyal subject.

Destiny is a funny thing, though. I've known Gwendal since we were very young, even if I am twenty-five years his senior we always had a way of understanding each other, he was my closest and most beloved friend and I loved him dearly. As years passed, my feelings changed from loving him as a friend to being in love with him but how could I tell him? He always claimed not to know anything about love, let alone be interested in it and there was also the fact everyone assumed he would end up marrying Anissina; they had history, much more history than Gwendal and I had and everything just pointed in that direction so I decided to ignore my feelings and let their relationship flow the way it was supposed to while still being Gwendal's friend, he was just too important to me and I could not get away from him even if I wanted to so I focused on Lady Celli and, later on, his Majesty Yuuri instead.

For years I managed to make it work and I was sure I was close to getting over my feelings until, one day, I heard singing outside my bedroom window and I thought to myself that it had to be a joke; I had made it clear years back that I did not intend to marry until my work at Covenant Castle was done, hoping it would make any suitor give up before that time came but I recognized the deep voice. Feeling my heart jump to my throat, I peeked outside without opening the window and I saw Gwendal with his hands behind his back and his head bowed hiding his face from the spectators around him but it _was_ his voice, he was proposing and it was all I could do not to jump out the window right there. I listened to the song and then waited for the pebble to hit my window, I didn't move, despite everything telling me I should open the window and decline the proposal, that I was not meant to be married and even less to my precious friend, that I should keep focusing solely on my job, I stayed still waiting for that man to enter my bedroom and mess up the plan I had for the rest of my life.

Before our marriage we talked about our future life together, he wanted to have children at some point and I honestly told him I was not sure of what I wanted yet, I had a daughter already so I had to think about it before making a decision. Gwendal, respectful as usual, said he would wait as long as needed for me to make a decision. I did not wish to collapse my lover's dreams but I wanted to be selfish as well, I even thought on bringing up the theme of adoption to him eventually if I decided on not having children or _maybe_ I could ask him to be the maternal parent instead of me. I was careful about my birth control, just like Wolfram was, but we did not bother to check the leaves for our monthly infusion this time and it might have been the reason why we are in this situation; I am one of the most powerful magic users in the kingdom and Gwendal's Maryoku is as strong as mine so we were at high risk of pregnancy just from that, considering our demon blood and the magic we possess, my pregnancy for that single night at the party was a fact before we even succumbed to the aphrodisiac.

When I started feeling sick I hoped against hope that I had caught something but Gisela herself gave me the news I was scared of hearing; the one thing I wanted to avoid until I had made up my mind was real and there was no way to change it. Gwendal tried to comfort me that night and, with trembling hands he tried to control, he asked me if I wanted to interrupt the pregnancy, he said he would not fight me if I decided not to have the baby since I had not gotten to make a decision about that yet. I thought for a moment on taking the offer but then I remembered the way I felt when Gwendal held me in the medical wing and how happy I was, feeling for a moment that we would be a bigger family; just for a moment of letting my defenses down I felt happier than I ever thought possible until I remembered I was not supposed to be having more children, not yet at least. I asked Gwendal to let me think about it until morning and he acceded but the more I thought about it, the silliest it seemed to simply be questioning it: My husband wanted a family and I knew that, deep down, I wanted to have a family with him as well and even if we had not planned it this way I still felt happy and excited about this; everything I thought my future would be broke down again but I did not mind, I wanted to embrace this new change and, right now, I am pleased with where I am standing and I cannot wait to see how this shall evolve. I had so many plans, so many ideas on what my future was going to be like that if someone had told me, years back, that my life would be the way it is now, I would have turned my back on them for telling lies but all that I thought would happen has to change now and I will make the changes fit with my new situation and my goals will not be modified, I will add more and I shall achieve them all."

Shouri listened attentively to the whole story, the story of a man who thought he had his life sorted out only for everything to fall apart when the ideals faced off against reality and lost miserably. He knew his companion had only given him a briefing of his love and new family life but it had the important points coming across and the Earth Maou felt like he understood some of the man's feelings: He, too, had thought his life was planned out by him and had suddenly found it shattered by something he had never anticipated. The terrestrial looked up at the flowers and few fruits growing while he thought about what he had heard and considered everything before opening his mouth.

"Up to this moment, I never thought about having a family of my own." Black eyes kept looking up, he couldn't help but think back on his earlier musings when Günter had done the same when he started speaking "My sole purpose was to protect my brother and make sure he was always safe and happy, no matter if he wanted me to or not. He grew much too soon for my liking and I wanted to catch up with him and I had finally managed to do it but, suddenly, he tells me he'll be having a baby and just a day after that I find out _I _am having a baby as well… It's too much at once and it's nothing like what I wanted for Yuuri or for myself, it's something that completely changes my life and now… Now I can decide whether I want to accept that change or ignore it."

There was no reply and Shouri wasn't expecting one, he knew Günter was taking this as his time of speaking up and the older male would stay quiet for as long as it was needed. Saying this out loud was kind of cathartic and he felt his jumbled thoughts starting to arrange themselves, he took a deep breath and closed his eyes, his head still turned upwards before continuing.

"I don't love Conrad, that night together was never supposed to happen but now part of me is growing within him and it's only because of my power that the child is able to live; if I didn't have Maryoku then I wouldn't have gotten him pregnant- No, actually, if I had been smart I wouldn't have drunk wine or even come to the party to begin with; it was none of my business! I should have just… I should have…"

Shouri chuckled humorlessly and moved to rest his elbows against his knees, he turned to the Mazoku with a dull smile and cocked his head to the side.

"There is no such thing as _'I should have'_, is there?" Günter's stoic expression didn't change and he didn't make a move to answer either "I did what I did and there's no going back, no changing time no matter how much I wish I could."

"Then do not duel on the past any longer." Finally the advisor's soft voice was heard again, the bespectacled man's eyes widened at the interruption that came just in time for it to be respectful enough "You are struggling with the present but, in the end, you have to think about the future."

"The future…" Shouri spoke as if in a trance, trailing off as the man beside him nodded slowly.

"Maybe it is not what you wanted but now that you are going through this you have to think about your future; you have two options and now the only way to decide what you want to do is envision what your life would be like if you choose either one or the other even though you know whatever you end up seeing in your mind might change without warning." Günter rested a delicate hand on the water-wielder's shoulder and gave a reassuring squeeze before rising from the bench with a sigh "I have to excuse myself, his Majesty Yuuri has requested for me to visit his quarters and I cannot let him down. You may stay here if it helps you think, Shouri-sama."

Günter bowed respectfully and took his leave, leaving Shouri to stare at his retreating back as mixed feelings fought in his heart even though, incredibly so, his head felt much clearer than before the conversation and he had to use his brain if he wanted to solve anything. He needed to start thinking again but, this time, he would do it right.

* * *

"I wonder if they're done already." Yuuri said while doing a rather impressive impersonation of a caged lion as he paced the entire length of his huge room while his husband ignored him majestically by sorting out the clothes he had brought back from Earth into three different piles, one for each of the pregnant males. They had just recently left Shouri and Conrart behind and he decided to try to distract himself from his own wonderings about the conversation both half-breeds were supposed to be having right about now; it had only been twenty minutes so, depending on how Shouri reacted and how Conrart managed it, they could either be done by now or still talking. Anyway, Yuuri had asked Yozak to let Conrart know he was to be in the royal bedchambers in about forty minutes and they hoped the brunet would be done by then so he could see what Yuuri's mother had bought for him, whether the conversation went smoothly or disastrously this was sure to make him happy and the blond could bet Günter would be just as elated when he found out he also had terrestrial maternity clothes all for himself "Maybe I should go check on them."

"Yuuri, calm down!" Wolfram exclaimed not wanting the double-black to go eavesdropping into yet another conversation "You need to stop worrying so much, that was supposed to be _my_ job."

"But how can you be so calm?" The Maou asked exasperated "Your spoken-for brother and my single brother, who have no romantic feelings for each other, are having a conversation about their future, unplanned, child; how are you not worried sick about how this might turn out?"

"Do you seriously believe I am not?" The older boy's question was interlaced with an annoyed tinge that made the monarch stop his pacing and actually take a look at his consort. Wolfram was frowning while holding a piece of clothing in a tight grip with both his fists, the terrestrial found his gaze fixed into a couple of deep emeralds which spoke more than any quantity of words the blond could ever articulate in his life; Yuuri's own worry not only was mirrored but multiplied and all the more perceivable in his body language from keeping any vocal concerns deep within his chest. Guilt quickly replaced Yuuri's previous indignant attitude and the more he thought about it, the worse he felt: He was worried about his brother reacting badly and hurting his godfather but Wolfram was worried about his _husband's_ brother hurting _his_ brother, his _pregnant _brother who was going to be judged by everyone in the kingdom who still held to the so-called _"Mazoku pride"_ and whose most important support would come from those close to him, granted, if Shouri accepted to take part in this baby's life, his position as Earth Maou and as the older brother of Shin Makoku's current King would scare more people off from trying anything against the brunet –to his face at least-… Although, if he did accept the responsibility there would be people trying to talk them –read 'force them'- into marriage since it is the 'proper thing to do this' because there is a child and it should be with a 'true family' with married parents, which is ridiculous! But, still…

"Sorry, Wolf." Yuuri apologized sincerely, walking up to his consort, the demon said something under his breath and turned his back to the younger male who breathed a chuckle and moved to wrap his arms around the soldier's waist while resting his forehead against the blue-clad back "I should have thought about your feelings too and not just assume that you weren't worried about this but you always look so composed I let it fool me."

"Of course I look composed; I am the prince consort and it would be uncouth to let my emotions get the best of me in front of others." The Maou's chuckle was louder this time and moved his head so his chin rested on the slightly shorter male's shoulder, his grip around the blonde's body tightening.

"And this is coming from the same person who would chase me around the Castle with sword in hand yelling at the top of his lungs how much of a cheater I was-Oof!" Yuuri's teasing got cut short when an elbow connected with his abdomen, forcing him to let go of the fire-wielder and give a few steps backwards, he wrapped his arms around his own body this time trying to alleviate the pain "Hey! What was that for?"

"That was before, you wimp!" Wolfram threw the shirt he was holding at his spouse's head, effectively covering his pouting face from view "I have gotten better at it, someone needs to give the people a much better image than that of their wimpy King!"

"Don't call me a wimp!" Yuuri pulls the shirt from his head, his pout still present. The royal couple stares at one another daringly until the double-black gives in and lowers his gaze to the clothing in his hand, he walks back to the full-blooded Mazoku carefully and gives it back "I _am_ sorry though, I suppose I'm just letting it get to me and I know my brother can be selfish sometimes so I'm just hoping this isn't one of those times in which he only thinks about himself."

"And to think it was you who claimed to always trust others, no matter what they did." Wolfram added the shirt to the pile in the middle, the one belonging to him, and met his companion's surprised face with an amused one; he was using the same teasing route the king had taken moments prior "I agree that Shouri might be selfish at times but there have been many more times in which he has been selfless and this might just be one of them, he is your brother Yuuri and you two are more alike than you think."

".. Do you really believe so?" The blond smiled softly and nodded convinced.

"Have more faith in him." Yuuri felt relief seeping through his pores at those words and felt even more at ease when his lover walked up to him and hugged him around the waist, he didn't hesitate in returning the embrace "He will make the right decision."

* * *

He hadn't spoken much with Günter. He hadn't expressed half what he thought he would when he had first asked for an ear to hear him out… And yet, he got an answer that actually helped him think more clearly: He had to think about the future.

Up to this point he had only focused on blaming himself for the pregnancy and lamenting how his future was ruined because of it but, what if it's not? Giving it a good thought, this might not be just about his demise like he initially thought, maybe there was a way to make things work in which he'd be satisfied and make everything right… Yeah, maybe.

So he had two options, either to take part in the baby's life somehow or just not have anything to do with it.

The second option would be easier in every way; he could simply not take responsibility for this and pick up his life where he left off. He was this close to finishing college, once he finished he would focus on his goal to become governor with the help of Bob and his team while still learning everything he needed to become the new Earth Maou officially; he already had so much to memorize and his powers were still not completely under his control while on Earth and he still had much more to learn in the dojo. Also, now that Yuuri was going to have a child, there was reason to believe it could bring danger to him, Wolfram or their kid as the few rebels that were likely hiding away just waiting for the right moment to attack would not doubt in targeting the newborn as possible ransom for whatever they felt was not right with the kingdom's current rule, maybe Shouri wouldn't be able to stop these people before they attacked but he would be able to help fighting against them and to stand next to his brother with as much power as the younger King and be proud about it. Once he was ready he could finally feel like he had _some_ kind of say in his brother's life who, up until now, had been keeping the college student at arm's length and as far away from Shin Makoku's political issues as he could; of course he understood Yuuri was doing this thinking it was for Shouri's best interests and that keeping him away would mean less danger for him but Shouri just didn't want that anymore and he would do anything to prove his worth no matter what it took. He was busy and would be for years now and he didn't need a distraction right now: His mind had to be focused on his personal goals, goals he had set for himself throughout the years from the moment he first met Bob that fateful evening after spending a day with his one and only sibling and he was set on accomplishing them!

… But… There was also option one.

What would his future be like if he accepted to participate as parent to this child? He would have to figure out how he'd be able to spend time with the child since he couldn't just let Conrad do everything by himself and taking responsibility did mean looking after his future son or daughter. He was pretty sure the Castle would be able to give the parents-to-be everything they needed and his own mother would be buying stuff for the babies, especially those that were directly related to her so there would be no shortage of utensils and basic needs but there was still more to raising a kid than materialisms. What would they do about their offspring's education? Obviously Shin Makoku had its tutors and teachers and he could bet anything his kid would end up being educated alongside its cousins by Günter himself just like Yuuri had been but the imparted lessons would only regard knowledge about the demon world and Shouri would prefer if his enfant learned important lessons about Earth as well, after all, one of the parents was from the other world… Speaking of which, would the child stay in Shin Makoku? Obviously Conrad wouldn't want to leave this world and there was no way the double-black could separate the baby from the maternal parent so the only way would be either bring back an instructor from Earth or find a way to work time so the child could spend as much time on Earth as they do in Shin Makoku; however, the time refraction between both worlds would make that impossible as one single day on Shouri's home would be a little over four days in Conrad's home, a single semester at a terrestrial school would be over two years in Shin Makoku and that was just not acceptable; sure, he'd love for the kid to visit Earth as often as possible but keeping it there was out of question. Also if he were to invite the child to stay over with him every now and then, the small apartment he had thought at some point on getting for himself would have to change into something bigger so the child would have their own room and then another extra room because surely Conrad would travel with the young one at least during the first times and he wasn't about to let the brunet sleep on the couch… Or maybe _Shouri_ would sleep on the couch and let Conrad use the bed during their stay… No, wait, Conrad would never accept that unless he made it an order… No, scratch that, Conrad only followed Yuuri's orders, not his… And what would happen later on? What if Shouri fell for someone in the future and got a new child of his own? Ok so a half-sibling would probably make the children happy but a new family requires even more space and he would need to focus a bit more on the newborn and if this newborn happened to be from Earth then he would visit his first child even less and it'd feel like more time to them for reasons already mentioned and if he decided to be a true father then there was no way he could simply neglect one of their offspring in order to attend the other one; he was going to make things right!

… That was too complicated. Shouri had a hard time following his own train of thought, he doubted anyone else would be able to; thinking about what needed to be done with a child was tiring him out mentally and it honestly seemed to be too much of a problem to him unless he decided to make everything simpler for himself by making it harder on Conrad but he couldn't do that simply because this whole thing had been his fault, maybe he didn't do it on purpose and maybe the result was not the worst one there was but if he had been intelligent he wouldn't be in this situation and maybe, _maybe_, Conrad wouldn't be either because maybe if Conrad _had_ slept with someone else he wouldn't have gotten pregnant because, if he understood how this worked, a great quantity of Maryoku was needed and only a handful of people in the party possessed it half of which were in some way related to the brunet so it was very unlikely any of them would have tried anything on him… Or at least he hoped so, he really couldn't be sure considering the aphrodisiac had been pretty strong. Moving on though, if he were to take part in the baby's life he wanted to make everything right and that means to take full responsibility.

"I think those pants will come in handy further along, they stretch so much!" The bespectacled Maou stopped in his tracks upon hearing that voice, once again he had wandered without noticing it, somewhere in his mind he knew he had actually been walking towards Conrad's office and he had to pass by Yuuri's bedroom whose voice had been to one to bring Shouri back to reality. Curiosity took handle of his brain and he moved up to the Royal bedroom's door which was slightly ajar, he wasn't sure of it was left that way on purpose or if someone had forgotten to close it after themselves; he saw a lot of people inside the room and they all were looking pretty happy and excited with their current activity which happened to be clothes fitting –the ones his mother had bought back on Earth with Wolfram-.

"Well that _is_ the point of the maternity clothing." Lady Celli commented looking delightedly at the pregnant men in the middle of the room, besides the blond woman and Yuuri, the other people within the chamber looking at the modeling males were Murata, Yozak, Gwendal, Anissina and Gisela and not a single one of them seemed half as concerned with the issue as he did… Was it only him then? The only one who was stressing so much over this whole ordeal was Shouri alone? No, no that wasn't it; the others had already made a decision regarding their situation and they were happy with what they had decided whereas he was still thinking on what to do, without making a choice he was the only one actually pressured because of it and he didn't like feeling that way so he had to make up his mind right now.

Regardless of whether he wanted to take part or not, the baby was coming and that was something that he couldn't change so now all he had left to do was think about the future and what he wanted for it; that was all that mattered. Looking at the scene within the room he could easily say they expected nothing but happiness from the pregnancies taking place and, well, it was probably wishful thinking because the main thing with children was responsibility and that always what came first above everything else with a family: Responsibility.

"Pardon the intrusion." Shouri called as he knocked twice on the slightly open door before letting himself in, everyone turned to look at him but his eyes only met with the pair that had silver specks scattered over brown irises; the brunet had been holding a cream-colored shirt up to take a good look at it before trying it on but his plans along with the smile he had been wearing moments prior was gone and replaced by a somewhat anxious frown, the Earth Maou decided to keep his face as expressionless as possible, he didn't want to give anything away before he got the chance to speak to Conrad directly, he discreetly noted the inquisitive look Günter was sending his way but he had a feeling the man already knew what he had decided and opted to ignore it "May I speak with you?"

"Of course." The soldier nodded once and gave the clothing he was holding to his mother before excusing himself and walking out the door behind Shouri; the room stayed eerily silent even after the door closed after them. Once again, Conrad led the way to his office and no words were spoken until they were both seated in the exact same spots they had occupied earlier that day.

"Okay." The double-black breathed, letting his gaze travel around the room once before settling on the male across him, the shorter man was sitting straight but visibly less tense than before which immediately eased Shouri's own posture as he relaxed his shoulders with a sigh "Before anything else, I want to be honest with you.

"Sure." Conrad conceded with a small smile, it had been the first time the terrestrial had seen the captain smile at him since he got there that day and it still was nothing like the smile he was used to see, this one was far too nervous to come off as honest.

"I never thought I would have a child with you." The bespectacled Maou said as calmly as he could "I don't mean to offend you and I know you understand that; we may have some sort of understanding with one another but it doesn't mean I have romantic feelings for you and I'm pretty sure I never will and that the same goes for you so us having a family is not something I planned to ever have thus making this something harder to accept as reality."

"I understand." Shouri didn't doubt he did but hearing it did help him somehow.

"With that said, I've been thinking about the situation and what I'd like for my future." The younger male continued; this was it and whatever came out he wouldn't be able to take back but he already felt he wouldn't be wanting to do it any time soon "I'd like to be a part of this child's life and I would like to be here during the pregnancy as well."

"Shouri?" His name was spoken as a question and a rather stunned one at that to which the after-mentioned water-wielder couldn't help but feel a little offended; so the brunet did expect him to back down from this? "Are you sure this is what you want to do?"

"I wouldn't be saying it if I wasn't." Shouri said seriously itching to fold his arms over his chest just like he had done earlier that day but he fought the urge to do so as it would have been childish to act defensive again so he choose to rest his hands on his knees instead and focus his eyes on Conrad's "After giving it a good thought I've come to the conclusion that this is the only way to do things; I'm as much a part of this as you are and it wouldn't be right to let you go through this alone so I'm accepting my responsibility."

"That's… Nice, but that is not what I asked you." Sir Weller said with a frown, gaze unwavering "Do you _want_ to do this?

"I already said-"

"I know what you said." Conrad interrupted apparently not wanting to hear his explanation again "I am asking you if you _want_ to do this; I do not much care about responsibilities, what's more, if a sense of duty is what you are doing this for then I would much rather you were not present during the pregnancy."

"What are you talking about?" Shouri was shocked; was this not what he was supposed to do? Was it not the right thing to do? What else was there if he was willing to do his part in this ordeal?

"I will not oppose to you being a part of the child's life in the future if you would like to do so." The brown-eyed half-breed said honestly "But if you feel this as a mere responsibility then I do not want you around this year until the birth, I do not want you to be here if you are doing it because you still feel guilty over this happening as it will make it harder on both of us and that is the last thing we need so I will ask you one last time: Is this really what you _want_ to do?"

Now, _that_ stopped Shouri dead on his tracks and finally understood what Conrad meant with his question; all this time he had been just talking about how it was what should be done but he didn't say anything about actually _wanting_ to do this or his desire just because that's something he longed for, no, it was just a duty in his words and that's not what the pregnant man wanted to deal with in the upcoming year so that was not enough. He was pretty sure he had taken the right choice because of responsibility but nothing in his reasoning said anything about him doing it just because, without a real reason or faulty sense of obligation and that's where logic failed. Up to this point, because of his lack of romantic feelings towards the former prince, he had just thought about this in the most logical and mature way he could muster trying to seem as if he had everything under control and what better way to show that than doing what was expected of a "true man"? Those two words on themselves were so wrong in so many levels and he realized that now but, surely, there had to be something else behind his decision, right?

"I can't answer that." He finally says honestly and as he sees Conrad lower his gaze he quickly adds "But I _want_ to try."

"What?" The shorter male looks shocked and, truth be told, Shouri was just as astonished as him since those words came out without him thinking them, was this mere instinct?

"Well…" The soukoku rubbed the back of his head "I mean, I truthfully have no idea if I really _want_ a child but I _want_ to try so I'd like for you to let me be a part of this and I promise I will do everything in my power to make this easier on you… Is that a possibility?"

"… Yes." Conrad smiled again but this time there was nothing forced to it; it was the more natural one he was always brandishing and it filled Shouri with relief since now those rushed words seemed to have played in his favor "Thank you for being honest with me and thank you also for trying."

"No need to thank me." The Earth Maou smiled back, in his years of knowing Conrad he could honestly say he had never felt more at ease than in these few moments "Think we should let the others know about this?"

"They will be delighted." Conrad let out a breath and stood up, Shouri mimicking his action in order to make their way back to the door but before he could step away from the desk Shouri heard his companion's voice speaking again "Ah, I also have something else to ask you."

"What is it?"

"Well since you decided to help me through this I was wondering if you would agree to let Yozak join us in this _'Adventure'_." Shouri raised an eyebrow at the question.

"Yozak wants to join in?" Conrad nodded and his smile widened slightly.

"Yes, I told him about this and he says he wants to be a part of it but we want you to be ok with this as well since the baby is as much yours as it is mine." The brunet explained with a shrug "It does not matter if I am in a romantic relationship with Yozak, we want your approval in this."

… Oh, god, how could he forget?! Yozak!

* * *

TBC~


	6. Encounter

**Fanfiction title:**Triple threat _(Working title)_

**Fanfiction summary:**One is exciting, two is nerve-wracking, but THREE might just be their demise. Because there's just something about pregnancies that makes everyone lose their minds.

**Chapter title:**Encounter.

**Chapter number:**6/?

**A/N: **Ok this chapter ended up being much longer than anticipated and I couldn't add really anything about the pregnancy but I finally gave closure to the story between Shouri, Yozak and Conrart with the final conversation pending between two of them. I originally hadn't planned on making this chapter tell so much about Yozak's day but I realized I hadn't really made a chapter from his POV and I wanted to make his emotions over this ordeal clear for everyone; the flashback in particular got much longer than anticipated and I had to make changes many times in the present-time conversation but I finally feel satisfied with what I have.

By the way, I think a lot of you -if not all- might find these out of character but I never really got to see Yozak being the negative one since he always tried to look at the bright side of things in the series, the closest was during his first few episodes in which he didn't trust Yuuri but during that time he was more smug than anything and Shouri always tried to be serious but stand to his beliefs when he was facing a problem and he really has a strong opinion on responsibility and respect but I never really saw a good interaction between him a Yozak to decide how they would communicate so that's where the general awkwardness comes from, but we will get past that and this will get lighter now that the main conflict was solved, there WILL be more though but all on due time.

Meeting with Gisela next chapter.

Also, I wanted to ask you guys if you like the current title or if you have any ideas for a new name for story because I'm honestly in blank, I have no ideas so if you have any feel free to share them!

I'd be happy to hear your opinion on my story with your reviews. Also please remember English is not my first language and I don't have a beta reader so please forgive me for each and every spelling and grammatical mistake you find.

Without further ado, please enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 6: Encounter**

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Yozak had never been so nervous in his life, at least that he could remember, sure he had been in a battlefield and he almost lost his life and the life of his best friend was on the line and if they had failed that day Big Shimaron would have accessed to their kingdom and who knows what would have happened then… OK so maybe he _had_ faced nerve-wracking situations before but he could honestly say that, while ha had been really nervous back then, he wasn't nearly as scared as he felt right now simply because he didn't feel powerless during the battle whereas this time he felt as though he could do nothing for things to go his way; he could try to talk, he could _try_ to do something of course, but there was absolutely no guarantee that anything would change.

"Come on in." Yozak almost wished he had skipped breakfast, he was feeling somewhat sick.

All right, it could be that he was getting ahead of himself here; he did have that conversation with Conrart the previous day and the brunet had assured him there was nothing to worry about but when Shouri had asked for a word with the captain the day prior, the more selfish part of the redhead wished the Earth Maou would decide not to take part in the baby's life and go back to the other world but another, more logical part of him, wanted the bespectacled male to stay because Conrart would have some defense against a few stuck up nobles since Shouri can simply tell them to stop bothering him and they will obey and while Yuuri could do the exact same thing, the King needed to focus on his own spouse not his spouse's brother; if Shouri stayed he'd have Conrart's back all the time.

Yozak hadn't been great at controlling his stress over the last twenty-four hours though…

_**Flashback**_

"_Should we wait till they come back to keep doing this?" Yuuri asked nervously after a few moments of silence, it was awkward with everyone from the moment Shouri asked Conrart if they could talk and Yozak was acutely aware that every single set of eyes in the room was stealing glances at him leaning against one of the bed's postings, wanting to be discreet about it and failing but he couldn't bring himself to make fun of them when his own eyes were set on the closed door of the royal room as if expecting his lover to walk back through it at any moment._

"_I believe we should." Murata said with a nod, fixing his glasses with his middle finger "How about we get some tea in the garden? It's a very nice day and it'd be a waste to stay inside while there's still light out."_

"_I shall go ask the maids to bring us some to the table in the garden, along with some pastries." Gisela said, bowing to the double-black's in the room before leaving the room._

"_I am going to make sure the table is ready to be used." Lady Celli spoke up next, setting down the shirt Conrart had handed her a few moments ago and walking to the door, Anissina promptly stood from her place on the bed and followed after the blond woman with a quick bow to the sage and the king, calling for the former monarch to wait for her and leaving only males in the room… Which did not help the pressure he was feeling even if he did have a bigger connection with the people still around him than the ones who left._

_Silence reigned in the room again, Yozak could tell everyone wanted to say something to him as he kept his gaze fixed on the door but none of them actually did and, at this point, he really did need words from anyone: Reassuring words, clumsy words, funny words; even hurtful words would do but he needed __**something**__ to reach his ears._

"_You know you can't just wish him back by looking at the door, right?" Trust the Great Sage to be the one to do what he asked without saying it out loud. The spy turned his gaze to the bespectacled youth and found him smiling at him and this was an actual companionable smile as opposed to the terrestrial's usually mischievous smirk. Out of the corner of his eye Yozak saw the royal couple glaring at Murata and for a brief moment he actually wanted to laugh._

"_You could have let him try for a few more minutes, your Highness." Now it was Günter's voice that was heard, the redhead turned towards him this time and found the lavender-haired demon sporting an expression similar to the Sage's own. The beautiful man then walked up to the spy and rested a delicate hand on his shoulder "But now that you are back with us, do you want to join us for tea?"_

"_Would it help me more than staying here on my own waiting for them?" Yozak asked jokingly but there was some hope in his tone, he felt Günter squeeze his shoulder before letting go of him._

"_I believe so, they will come find us once everything has been settled so there is no reason to wait here."_

"_I'll tell the guards to let them know where we are once they come back!" Yuuri said trying to sound cheery. He ran towards the door, Wolfram and Murata walking after him both sparing a glance at the spy meant to show support and Yozak did appreciate it even when he kept his mouth closed. Once the youngest trio left the room, Yozak saw movement by the window; the commander walked up to him with his usual stoic expression but the spy was close enough to the Earth-wielder to know not to be afraid of him and, instead, waited patiently for the man to say whatever it was that he wanted to say._

"_Raise your head and keep your stance." Unconsciously, the redhead fixed his posture and looked straight at his superior which made Gwendal crack the smallest of smiles "Whatever happens you need to show your strength and do not accept defeat, nothing has happened yet and when it does, you will find a way to deal with it."_

"_Of course, your Excellency." Yozak smiled back and nodded once; if you didn't know the former prince you would think that had been a little harsh, but in all honestly, it was words like those that made the spy trust the man he worked for just as much as he trusted said male's half-breed brother and that was saying a lot._

"_Let us go before anyone comes looking for us." Günter said touching both taller men's arms to get them moving. Yozak followed without another word and stayed quiet during the small tea party the family was having all the way until he caught movement close by in one of the hallways, Gwendal, Günter and Wolfram catching it the moment he did and turning their heads to identify whatever was making its way towards them alerting the rest of the people at the table at once; Yozak's heart skipped a beat when he saw Conrart and Shouri walking towards them._

"_Glad to see you enjoying the day outside." Conrart's smile was the first thing the Ruttenberg Warrior noted as it shone the way it did when it was authentic and it made him really happy knowing everything had gone smoothly and that everything was really going to be fine with those two, but he would be lying if it didn't also make him wonder if they had talked at all about his participation on the whole ordeal since Shouri's expression was more of a determined one than a happy one. _

"_Would either of you care for some tea?" Lady Celli asked with a smile likely not wanting to push for any answers before they were ready to speak up for themselves._

"_Actually, I came here to ask for a favor from my little brother." Shouri said turning briefly to the after-mentioned soukoku "Can you take me back to Earth?"_

_And just for a moment everything seemed to stop as varying emotions crossed every present person's face, none of which were the most pleasant. The brunet shot Shouri a meaningful look and the taller male rolled his eyes with a scoff and looked back at the people at the table._

"_I need some books if I'm going to be of any help here." Immediately, the varying expressions changed to one and the same: Bewildered, well, everyone but Günter who had a rather satisfied grin on his face that Yozak was only able to catch because the counselor was sitting across from him._

_After that everyone stood from their place and walked to Shouri and Conrart, ready to show them how happy they all were to hear the man had accepted to, not only acknowledge the unborn child, but to stay and help Conrart through the pregnancy and Yozak wished he could be up there with everyone else celebrating the news but he didn't feel like celebrating until he had talked with his lover personally and in private. Trying to move as silently as possible, he stood from his place and tried to find the captain's brown eyes which wasn't hard as he seemed to try to do the same with him; with a nod of his head towards the East Wing, the spy made his way to the training grounds knowing his fellow warrior would catch up with him eventually and they'd be able to talk then. Whether anyone knew why he was walking away besides his boyfriend or not he still was grateful no-one called out to him._

_Upon arriving to the training grounds he sat on the railing facing the place which was mostly empty at the moment except for the few ones who felt they needed to train more in order to become better –twelve to be precise-, funny thing was that most of them were Wolfram's soldiers with only some of Conrart's and none of Gwendal's which said a lot of the three divisions and nothing bad about any of them, just their differences. All the soldiers gave him a glance at some point when he arrived but did nothing further to acknowledge him still blissfully unaware of what was happening with the former –and current- royal family, he wondered what their reactions will be once they find out about not one, not two but three pregnancies; that ought to be fun. It was a real pity he didn't feel like having a big laugh about anything right now but anything that worked as a distraction was welcome while he waited so he opted for looking and the training soldiers and cataloguing their strengths and flaws for future reference; he could always make some time to share with the soldiers._

"_Sorry to keep you waiting." Finally he heard Conrart's voice nearing, Gurrier turned to acknowledge his significant other and shook his head with a smile. Yozak waited until the brunet leaned on the railing next to him, the soldiers training nodding their heads respectfully to the captain as soon as they noticed him which he responded with a nod of his own._

"_No problem, captain." The older man said, he returned his gaze to the soldiers to see two of Wolfram's soldiers taking a break from their sparing to catch their breath "So, Shouri-sama decided to be part of the baby's life."_

"_He did." Conrart confirmed "He said he wanted to get some pregnancy books from Earth since I told him Mazoku pregnancy has the same semiology as human pregnancy with a few additions due to our Majutsu."_

"_He sounds compromised with this." Yozak said with a little apprehension still not daring to face his best friend, he hesitated before continuing "Did you mention… me?"_

"_How could I not?" The brunet chuckled and finally blue eyes moved to meet with brown prompting him to continue "He wants to talk to you in private when he comes back, I am sure there are a few things you have to discuss by yourselves."_

"_Oh?" The taller half-breed looked back to the soldiers to see four of them bowing to the captain before leaving; eight soldiers remained, six of which were clad in blue. Silence fell over them, only the clash of metal and various battle cries and grunts filling the space between them; Conrart didn't say anything and Yozak was aware he was waiting for him to continue with something, so he did "When is he coming back?"_

"_Likely tomorrow morning." The former prince answered moving closer to his lover "Do you think you can handle that?"_

"_You were able to handle it, if I am not able to I would not be able to look at you again." The redhead said honestly "Doesn't mean I am not nervous about it though."_

"_He did not give any indication of being bothered by your interest in sharing responsibility, if that helps." Conrart commented "A little confused but not bothered."_

"_Did he say anything else about me?"_

"_No, just that he wanted a conversation with you." Yozak felt his beloved rest a hand on his arm, coaxing him to look back at him and see his calm smile adorning his face "But don't jump to any conclusions until you have talked to him, it will stress you more."_

"_I can promise you to try but not that I'll succeed." Yozak said with a half-smile._

"_Trying is good." Conrart conceded "Would it make it easier if we drop the topic for the rest of the day?"_

"_Much."_

_And so they dropped the topic for the rest of the day, Yozak hesitantly went back to the royal bedroom when everyone went to finish checking out the Earth clothes but he couldn't enjoy himself much and the topic was not even mentioned at dinner by anyone, during bath time it was pretty quiet and they went to bed in much the same fashion but still Yozak wasn't able to fall asleep; it was kind of interesting in a weird way since the last few days it was Conrart who had problems falling asleep and Yozak had been the one to comfort him, telling him that he could get through his conversation with Shouri without a problem and that he needed to rest to have a clear mind… Ironic, isn't it? That now it was Yozak the one needing rest to get through a tough conversation while Conrart tried to get him to sleep before he succumbed to slumber himself, possibly exhausted once the stress was lifted off his shoulders; the previous nights Yozak had been so busy trying to reassure his boyfriend that he never once thought about his own unavoidable conversation with the Earth Maou and now that the brown-eyed half-breed had overcome his problem, the redhead had all his focus on himself._

_Yozak didn't know at what point he finally fell asleep but, next thing he knew, Conrart was finishing getting dressed in his usual uniform and light was streaming into the room making his back feel warm. As soon as he moved to sit up the owner of the room turned to him with a smile before walking up to him._

"_Good morning."_

"_Morning." Conrart gave him a peck on the lips and finished straightening his jacket._

"_How are you feeling?"_

"_Like I want to switch position with you, is that possible?" The taller male sighed, stood up and went to pick his usual clothing, he heard a sympathetic chuckle a few feet behind him and just couldn't help but crack a small smile of his own. Yozak turned around to find Conrart fastening his belt and sword sheath around his waist._

"_Trust me, once your stress is lifted off you, you'll be happy you are not in my place." Conrart looked up still smiling "I have to go check on his Majesty, see if he feels up to his usual morning jog."_

"_No nausea this morning then?" That was good news at least, Conrart had had a bad time with that a couple of days ago and just the morning before he had been feeling rather sick so seeing him up early and ready to work was rather uplifting._

"_I want to take advantage of that." The younger man nodded "I am pretty sure I will be banned from my regular activities soon and this might just be the thing I miss the most."_

"_When that happens your brother and I will be responsible for all the soldiers, we might just have to gather more than one division per training." Yozak commented finishing getting dressed himself "That ought to be interesting."_

"_I'm sure about that." Weller walked up to the door and turned back to Yozak before opening it "Shall I see you after breakfast?"_

"_Sure, I will meet you at the training grounds." And with one last kiss to the brunet's temple, Yozak was off to sweep the castle. He used every person he knew to talk and forget about Shouri coming back later that day, although he tried to avoid maids as every single one he talked to asked if he knew anything about why Shouri had left so soon after arriving and if it was true that he was coming back later that day; he did not need that right now. It worked nicely until breakfast when he had to escape the kitchen before being questioned again opting instead for having breakfast with Gwendal's soldiers who wouldn't ask a single thing about anything and would let him talk away instead so he told them every single thing of the last month he had been working at human lands and it was going great until…_

"_Ah, there you are Gurrier!" A guard clad in grey suddenly called from the entranceway of the room, instantly making all the soldiers turn to the spy with curious eyes, and how he hated that "Are you about done?"_

"_Yes, do you need something?" The addressed male stood from his seat and made to get out of his place on the bench between two soldiers._

"_Sir Weller told me Shouri-sama requested for you." And that single line made him lose his balance, trip over the bench and just barely managing to save his face from hitting the floor using his hands to stop his fall; he tried to dignify himself as fast as he could in front of all the soldiers and cleared his throat, directing his gaze straight to the guard at the door who wasn't doing a great job in hiding his conflict on whether to laugh or worry at Yozak's literal slip-up._

"_He's back?" Yozak mentally congratulated himself for sounding serious and calm when speaking right after the scene he just starred._

"_He got here a few minutes ago and wants for you to meet him in his bedchambers when you are available." The guard explained with a nod and the half-breed could just feel himself starting to sweat._

"_Very well, I shall meet him right now." And with that he walked out of the room without turning to look at anyone else and just keeping his eyes forward, guessing that some of the soldiers were already discussing what could their king's brother possibly want of him and if he had some kind of balance –or drinking- problem lately. It was at this point that he realized that, maybe, instead of avoiding thinking about the conversation he should have practiced and planned responses to every possible outcome… Too late for that now wasn't it?_

_**End of flashback**_

And now, here he was; standing in the middle of the Earth Maou's usual bedchambers while the man in question sat on his bed looking pensive. Yozak did his best to seem as nonchalant and relaxed as possible and he really hoped it was working.

"Did you need something from me, Shouri-sama?" And that seemed to snap the bespectacled male back to the present; he had been looking at the door as if expecting someone to walk through it but maybe he had just been really focused on whatever it was that occupied his thoughts.

"Yes, sorry." Shouri said standing up as well, he spared another look at the door and turned back to his visitor "Ok, since you're already here, there is something I need to know."

"I'm listening." He could do this; anything that he was asked he could answer.

"I have to go back to Earth in a few days to ask for some time off at my college so they don't think I've dropped and doesn't affect my chances of graduating, my father is already talking to Bob about my situation but I have to do it personally at some point and during that time I think we'd all prefer it if you were able to be in the Castle so I need to know if you are going to stay here throughout the whole year or if we need to plan around both our schedules so Conrad always has someone who can help him out if he needs it." …_What?_

"What?"

"I know there are a couple of spies that get assigned to simpler jobs and are not nearly as good as you but I'm not sure if you will be able to actually take a break of your duties to be here and how long it would be, perhaps we should talk to Gwendal about that before making any decision?"

"Hold on a moment, please." Yozak said raising his hands, he was, to say the least, confused; he thought he was here to listen to Shouri ask him why he wanted to participate and set limits to how deep into the child's life he could actually be and asking if he would be willing to accept certain conditions, not asking if he would be able to keep a constant eye on Conrart "Is… Is that all?"

"All?" Shouri looked bemused with that question and that was not comforting "So, that means you have no problem with scheduling?"

"No, I mean, no I do not have a problem but that's not what I mean." The redhead took a deep breath and let it out before speaking again "You agree with my participation? You have no problem with it?"

"I'll admit I was quite surprised at first but Conrad assured me you were sure of your decision and I told him if that was the case then I had no problem with your involvement." Shouri answered and cocked his head to the side

"But he said you wanted to talk to me in private."

"No, I wanted to discuss some stuff with you both and he said he'd tell you to come with him so we could talk about it." Both men were growing increasingly more confused but now Yozak understood why Shouri was looking at the door earlier: He had been waiting for Conrart to show up like he said he would.

"He said there were things we needed to discuss by ourselves though." And it was at this moment that something seemed to click in the shorter man's mind.

"Oh..." The bespectacled man looked down, whatever it was that he realized seemed like something he hadn't planned to happen but still happened and it suddenly dawned on Yozak that Conrart _had_ planned this so they could speak in private without telling them; it was something he couldn't put past his partner to do. Instead of pushing the younger man to speak up, he stayed silent waiting for him to be ready, it also helped him to get his mind clearer to finally have the conversation he came here to have "Truth be told I wanted to skip this part of the conversation because I didn't want to make this awkward but there are two things we should probably talk about."

"Very well."

"I'm sorry."… Ok, that was not the first thing he thought the Earth Maou would say.

"For what?" At this point it seemed as if Yozak was the one doing the questioning.

"I want to apologize for… you know, that night." Oh, that explained a lot; honestly Yozak never thought about wanting an apology from Shouri because he had fixed things with Conrart already and he knew that, if that night could have been avoided by both, it would have. Shouri looked quite uncomfortable mentioning it which would explain why he had wanted to skip that part; Yozak himself had had a one-night stand before that he regretted, way before he started dating the former prince, and while it wasn't really as complicated a case as this one he would much prefer it if he never ever had to talk about it again and, knowing the oldest Shibuya offspring, apologizing for something he did almost unconsciously had to be little more than shameful.

"You do not have to apologize for anything, Shouri-sama." The redhead assured raising his hands in a placating matter, even during the apology the man hadn't moved his gaze from his eyes, not willing to give up his pride and it might sound weird but Yozak appreciated that "Conrart already talked to me about this and I assure you there are no hard feelings."

"I still have to apologize." Shouri insisted with a firm expression "I know I'm supposed to not feel guilty but I keep telling myself I should have been more responsible and stick to what I had planned for myself that night and yet I let myself succumb to everything around me and it led to this. I don't remember much from that night, if anything, but that doesn't take away the position we're in now and the fact I slept with your lover and it caused a life-changing event, not only for us but for you as well and for the pain it must have caused you, I apologize."

Yozak looked at the double-black with surprise at how humble the man opposite to him sounded despite his prideful stance and the only thing the redhead could do was smile; it wasn't a mocking smile but rather a happy and somewhat relieved one upon hearing the honesty and consideration in those words and he was thankful to Shouri for treating him like an equal and respecting his position in this whole ordeal since the one who had done nothing wrong but had gotten just as involved and possibly more emotionally harmed of all three was the spy himself.

"If you insist, Shouri-sama, I accept the apology." The taller made finally said still smiling softly "And I thank you for it as well; it is more than a little unusual to have royalty apologize to a subject."

"In this scenario we're anything but a king and a subject as far as I'm concerned." The black-eyed half-breed retorted "When it comes to this we're all the same, which brings me to the next topic."

Shouri walked closer to Yozak and held his gaze stopping still far enough to respect each other's personal spaces and then some and took another deep breath before speaking.

"I know Conrad already told me this but I feel obligated to ask you myself; are you _really sure_ you want to be a part of the baby's life?" And there was the question the Ruttenberg warrior had been expecting to come up this whole time "I'm not saying you have to stay away from Conrad if you didn't want to take care of the baby with us but more like we wouldn't actually make you do things for the child that should be done by the parents; you have every right to say where you want to set a limit and Conrad and I will take care of the rest."

"Hold on a second." Yozak gave a step closer to his companion with a curious look "You're worried about me thinking you're laying a lot on me?"

"Well, yes." Shouri answered "You are making the choice of being a parent even though it's not your responsibility and I don't want you to feel like we're taking advantage of you at any point."

"Excuse my insubordination, Shouri-sama, but I want to make something perfectly clear." Yozak made sure the other man was staying quiet and paying attention before continuing, giving another step forward "I would never think either you or Conrart would take advantage of me if you were to give me any responsibility with your child, what's more, I would be so happy if you treated me as if I actually were a third parent; in all honestly I do not want to feel like I'm intruding on a foreign family and I do not want you to think I'm imposing or anything but I really do want to be involved in this as much as you allow me and I will do my very best to fit with all three of you and do my part."

"…Wow." Shouri let out a breathless chuckle that had the spy wondering if he had said something weird in his speech to gain that reaction until he heard what came next "I feel kind of pathetic now."

"I'm sorry?" Yozak asked genuinely perplexed by those words.

"It's just funny to me that you're more decided to be a parent than me." Shouri explained "It took me some time to accept the fact I was becoming a parent and even now I feel like I can't completely wrap my head around it yet, however you seem so ready that I can't help but feel kind of pathetic, like a coward."

"You decided not to be a coward though." Those words came before the soukoku could consider saying anything else degrading himself and Yozak dared to be even bolder when he advanced the five steps still separating both half-breeds to rest his hand on the younger man's shoulder in a supporting manner "You chose to stay and be supportive and helpful and you seem very committed; you are not pathetic in any way."

The bespectacled male mirrored the warrior's action of resting his hand on the other's shoulder and looked straight into the sky blue eyes in front of him as if searching for any kind of deception or mockery but he would find none as every word was truthful to the way he felt about his ruler's older brother. After a few seconds, Yozak decided to confess something to lighten up the mood.

"I'm going to tell you something, Shouri-sama." The spy cupped his free hand around his mouth and whispered with a smile "It took me about the same time as you to tell the captain I wanted to be part of the baby's life if you'd let me."

"Really?" The terrestrial's hand fell from Yozak's shoulders and it felt like being freed from the Earth Maou's insecurities. Yozak nodded animatedly and removed his own hand from the water-wielder's shoulder.

"Yes, really." He assured "So we are the same that way."

"If you insist." The sentence came in a resigned tone and it wasn't insulting to the older half-breed at all; it just meant no more debate would be made about this topic and that was just fine by him. They stayed in silence for a few moments, not looking at each other but not feeling uncomfortable in each other's presence… Actually it was kind of awkward; Yozak had come here ready to hear a lecture on what was supposed to be his place and how if he was to be anything to the child it would most certainly not be a parent and maybe he was expecting a warning or two on how close was too close when it came to his involvement with the kid but Shouri appeared to be relieved that he wanted to be a third parent and he even admitted to want to give Yozak just as much responsibility on his offspring as the double-black himself and Conrart would have without a doubt, going as far as fearing he'd be the one imposing for asking too much. It was really heartening to have the conversation going a completely different way than what he had anticipated and he felt silly for being so scared of the water-wielder the last couple of days and not trusting Conrart when he told him that there was nothing to worry about and, surprisingly enough, the whole conversation only came to show how much on the same page as him Shouri was with his insecurities and fears on the third person accidentally involved in the whole ordeal; now with all their fears talked out the easiness felt out of place and it was Shouri the one to give in first, clearing his throat "So, about that schedule?"

"Oh! Sure." Yozak smiled broadly and without a worry for the first time in what felt like too much time; he relaxed his stance to lean against the small table in the middle in the room, he hadn't noticed he was standing next to it until now "I have been off to various missions lately, mostly to look for rebels and conspirators but haven't found anything in months; I may be able to make a deal with his Excellency to have only about two or so missions for the rest of the year."

"That could work, will you let me know once you've talked to Gwendal?" The Earth Maou sat back down on the bed, taking a more humble posture himself.

"Will do, Shouri-sama." The taller male assured and then remembered something else the other man had said "You said earlier you wanted to discuss other stuff, anything I can help you with?"

"Sure, it seems Conrad won't be coming any time soon so we might as well do it on our own." Shouri shrugged easily.

"Serves him right for planning to have us talk alone without consulting us first." It might be childish of him to say that but he wanted some vengeance for the stress he had been through and it seemed the black-eyed man agreed when he smiled at him with a playful undertone to it.

"I've been thinking, the three of us will act as parents for this child and I know here each person picks the family name they want to keep once they have become of age but I believe it would be better for the child if they kept Conrad's family name when they're born."

"That sound like a good plan actually." Yozak conceded "But, are you sure you do not want the child to have your family name as well?"

"I thought about it, being my first child and all." Shouri admitted with a nervous smile and the spy, for a moment, felt sorry for the terrestrial "But being realistic, the kid is going to spend most of their life in this world because Conrad is going to stay here so I believe having the family name of the maternal parent would be more logical."

"Very well, I agree; let's give the child the captain's family name." The taller male nodded and was happy to see the other man do the same.

"But I also want to make a selfish request." The soukoku admitted "I know there are people in this world who have more than one given name, similar to some places of Earth."

"Yes, that is true."

"I want the child to have two names." Shouri said decided but not demanding "And I want to choose one of those names, Conrad and you will pick the baby's other name."

"That is not selfish in the least, Shouri-sama." And really, it wasn't even if it could sound as such "Like you said earlier; this is your first child and you have as much right over them as Conrart does; I think your proposition is fair; I do not have a problem with it and I'm sure the captain won't either."

"Well, that's a relief." The oldest Shibuya heir chuckled "This is going much more smoothly than I thought."

"It is, isn't it?" The redhead agreed folding his arms over his chest confidently.

"Shouri-sama?" A knock at the door accompanied by a male voice made the two people in the room turn to the entrance where they saw a castle guard, different from the one who fetched Yozak earlier, open it after Shouri gave him permission to enter "I am sorry to interrupt, your Highness, but Gisela-san says you may come to her office now."

"Ah, great! We'll be right over, thank you." The guard vowed and closed the door before walking away, returning privacy to the room "You want to tag along?"

"Are you feeling unwell?" Yozak asked concerned but Shouri quickly shook his head.

"I ran into Gisela on my way to the room and asked her if it would be possible to have a meeting so she could explain to me how male Mazoku pregnancy works, specifically Conrad's case and she said she'd let me know as soon as she was available." The questioned man explained, rising from his place on the bed to walk to the door "Are you interested in coming with me or do you have experience with it already?"

"Do you know how rare it is for a male half-breed to get pregnant?" The redhead asked with a snicker "I'm going to accept your invitation, I was planning on having a conversation like this with Gisela-chan myself anyway so might as well do it now."

"Great, the two of us there will make this twice as easy." And with that comment, Shouri opened the door and walked out the room, Yozak close after him remembering to close the door on his way out. With everything solved between them it was time to take the next step towards their weirdly blended future.

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TBC~


	7. Information

**Fanfiction title:**Triple threat _(Working title)_

**Fanfiction summary:**One is exciting, two is nerve-wracking, but THREE might just be their demise. Because there's just something about pregnancies that makes everyone lose their minds.

**Chapter title:**Information.

**Chapter number:**7/?

**A/N: **Ok so finally, finally we get to the part where I can expose to you a little bit of what is to come; Gisela is giving these guys some information on what to expect during the pregnancy and some more about Conrad's differences to Wolfram and Günter. Also a bit more drama for Shouri and Conrad… I promise to give them a break soon.

Next chapter Yuuri will ask Shouri about his decision of staying and what he thinks about it all and they have to announce the pregnancies to the kingdom, the nobles and their friends from other lands… At least announce two of them.

Also, I wanted to ask you guys if you like the current title or if you have any ideas for a new name for story because I'm honestly in blank, I have no ideas so if you have any feel free to share them!

I'd be happy to hear your opinion on my story with your reviews. Also please remember English is not my first language and I don't have a beta reader so please forgive me for each and every spelling and grammatical mistake you find.

Without further ado, please enjoy!

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**Chapter 7: Information**

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"Can we come in?" Shouri asked peeking inside the medical wing, since the door had been left open he assumed there was nothing wrong in looking inside, to his relief he saw the healer seated at her desk at the other end of the room; there were five chairs forming a semi-circle around her, one of which was occupied by Conrad who turned back to look at the newcomers with an innocent smile neither the double-black nor the redhead bought for a moment but they couldn't face the brunet at the moment seeing as how the current royal couple was sitting on the bed closest to Gisela looking confusedly at them, possibly wondering why they were together.

"Sure, Shouri-sama, you may both come in." The green-eyed demon nodded with a kind smile, motioning to the chairs around her "Please take a seat."

"Everything ok, Yuu-chan?" Shouri asked his brother, surprised to see him sitting on a medical bed.

"Of course." Yuuri reassured with a roll of his eyes "Gisela told us she wanted to give us a briefing or something of the sort on the generalities of the pregnancy, at least what we'll be going through the first few weeks."

"Günter and Big Brother should be arriving soon and we can get started." Wolfram finished seriously, although, now that the Earth Maou took a closer look to the blond consort, he looked paler than usual and he could only guess it was due to the morning sickness Yuuri had mentioned when he brought him back earlier that day.

"Hope they don't take long, I'm rather curious to know more about this process." Shouri said, taking a seat next to Conrad, Yozak had taken the chair at the brunet's other side and the oldest Shibuya offspring wouldn't put past the brown-eyed man to have taken a seat in that chair so he could have them on either side of him, leaving two consecutive chairs free for the last couple to arrive. Conrad looked from his lover to the water wielder and gave them each an inquisitive look which Shouri decided to ignore as a form of childish revenge for the initial awkwardness with the spy who gave the former middle prince a glare that didn't really seem too mean-spirited; they both were going to have a serious conversation with him after this meeting.

"I hope you do not mind I invited more people to hear this conversation, Shouri-sama." Gisela said looking hopefully at the bespectacled man "I thought it would be a good idea for everyone to hear this since Heika and his husband as well as my father and Gwendal-kakka will be experiencing a pregnancy themselves and most of the care will be done between partners instead of by the maids; I wanted to make sure everyone knew what to expect throughout this upcoming year."

"There is no problem at all, Gisela, I actually believe it's a great idea." The Earth Maou reassured to what the healer visibly gave a sigh of relief.

"Thank you, Shouri-sama." Before the after-mentioned half-breed could say anything back, a knock on the open door was heard drawing everyone's gaze to the room's entrance.

"Pardon our delay." Günter excused himself and his husband who walked in together directly to the seats left for them after closing the door "I hope you were not waiting long for us."

"Don't worry, we just got here." Yuuri replied with a wave of his hand, running his other hand up and down Wolfram's back who seemed to be trying to control his nausea taking deep breaths which everyone noticed but Gisela didn't seem to think it was anything big enough to tend and Yuuri wasn't asking for help so no-one said anything about it.

"Very well." Gisela cleared her throat gaining everyone's attention at once "If everyone is ready, I will get started."

"Go ahead, Gisela." Yuuri nodded still keeping his hand on Wolfram's back in a supportive manner, the blond seemed slightly calmer than a couple of minutes prior.

"As you know, male pregnancy has a similar behavior to female pregnancy; during the first few months there will be similar symptoms to the one's you've been having so far: Fatigue, nausea, headaches and vomiting but you will also start feeling bloated and you will have some breast tenderness since male Mazoku actually do lactate to feed their children. Also, you will have to use the bathroom more often, might feel like fainting if you overwork yourselves and your heart will beat faster after the first few weeks; when that time comes we will have to keep a closer eye on his Majesty, Wolfram, because of his blood pressure but if he takes care of himself there should be no problems." As she spoke with her "sergeant tone" –as Yuuri called it-, the green-haired woman made sure to look at everyone in the room just in case she detected any kind of doubt in their faces, she didn't want any of them to keep a question to themselves if she could give them an answer: It could cause problems in the future "Now, this will not be happening for another nine weeks; Mazoku male pregnancy is divided in two phases: The first one lasts thirteen weeks and we call it "Preparation phase" which is when the Maryoku flows irregularly and focuses on waking up the uterus so it forms the tissue necessary for the baby to grow; since males do not have an ovulation period like women do, given that their pregnancy depends solely on Maryoku releasing the eggs, the maternal parent _will_ bleed a little through weeks six and seven because the blood vessels in the uterus will grow and the smaller ones might break but the quantity has to be no more than that of a superficial sword wound, otherwise you have to come see me immediately."

"Excuse me, Gisela?" Yuuri raised his hand like a student in class "Sorry for interrupting but, during that time, do they have to eat differently so the bleeding doesn't affect them?"

"No, your Majesty, there is no need for that as the blood loss doesn't affect the body unless there is a problem with the pregnancy." The healer assured "During the Preparation Phase that is the biggest worry you will have, the symptoms you are currently feeling should stop by the end of this week, during your eighth week your uterus will be fully ready and your hormones will flare up so that week all the maternal parents _must_ stay in a safe place and your partners have to stay by your side to take care of everything so there has to be people to take over your work responsibilities during that time, week nine will be dedicated to the maternal parents' recovery after that strenuous week so the ball to celebrate the pregnancies has to happen sometime through weeks ten to thirteen so everything can be settled for the fourteenth week when your symptoms will come back full force."

"I have a question." It was now Shouri speaking, much like his brother, he had his hand in the air letting Gisela know he wanted to talk "I'm just going by what you said but that "hormonal flare" means they'll be actively seeking sex?"

"Well, yes, to put it bluntly." Gisela said smiling sympathetically to the three pregnant men, they had been sporting a light blush since she had brought up the topic of week eight but the blush extended all the way to their ears after Shouri's words, the Maou was also blushing now possibly due to his brother's choice of words if the glare he was sending his fellow water-wielder was any indication.

"OK, I know now when I'll be going back to Earth to get my things in order." The college student said with a chuckle, intertwining his fingers to rest them on the back of his head in a sort of confident pose that Yuuri decided to crumble immediately.

"Actually Shouri, since Gwendal and I will be otherwise occupied, I need you to cover for both of us as temporary regent during that week." Shouri almost fell off his chair upon hearing that declaration, he turned to look at his baby brother with a shocked expression which everyone mimicked; such a statement with all the words it included seemed out of character for the King of Shin Makoku and it was even more startling to see the satisfied smirk on the younger double-black's face "You can go back to Earth on the ninth week, I'll take you personally."

"Are you kidding me, Yuu-chan?" The oldest Earthling asked still sitting, he didn't want to cause more tension with his body language if he were to get up "You've always said you don't want me near your political business."

"Desperate times call for desperate measures." Yuuri retorted with a shrug "I'm sure you'll do just fine for the both of us that week, if not it can always be fixed when we get back to the office."

"And here, I thought I was the malicious brother." Shouri sighed folding his arms over his chest. After a few seconds of silence Wolfram cleared his throat and looked at Gisela.

"When will the maternal parents be required to leave their daily duties?" Gisela smiled at the question she had been expecting the blond to ask since he found out about the pregnancy.

"During the Preparation Phase you will have to lower your physical activity on weeks six and seven, obviously during the eighth week you will not be doing any of your normal duties but you can go back to them once you feel recovered enough to perform them." The healer said calmly "On the fourteenth week you will enter the second phase, which we call the "Growth Phase" when the baby will start its normal growth in the completely propitious uterus, Prince Wolfram and my father should not have a lot of problem with some activity as long as they feel well enough but nothing with swords so training can only be with Maryoku in order to avoid accidents. Lord Weller, on the contrary, cannot perform any kind of intense activity; the only kind of activity you are allowed to do during the first trimester of the second phase is jogging but it cannot escalate into running and that also goes for riding your horse; no sprints."

"Even though it is still very early into the pregnancy?" Shouri asked surprised without raising his hand this time "Most women can do everything they do on a daily basis without a problem."

"Yes but that is because they are biologically prepared to carry children." Gisela explained seriously but without edge "Pure-blooded Mazoku are also biologically prepared for the task even if a little different but half-breeds without Maryoku have higher risk of miscarriage during the first trimester in the "Growth Phase" than full-blooded Mazoku because their Maryoku is borrowed from their partner and, as such, Maryoku alone cannot stop miscarriages from happening and if anything were to happen to the maternal parent the Maryoku will focus on saving the adult, not the product, so anything too demanding _will_ make the Maryoku flow to other parts of the body and leave the uterus unattended. If it were to happen then all the tissue will tear and will be expelled from the body along with the product; the blood loss can be enough to put the half-breed in risk of dying without enough Maryoku to heal him and if the blood loss does not kill him then an infection might."

"…Damn." Shouri breathed, quite surprised of hearing what could happen to Conrad if something wrong happened to him during pregnancy and the mental images were making him a bit sick. He turned to the brunet with a concerned expression "I thought you said the quantity of Maryoku I gave you was enough to take the pregnancy to the end."

"It is, as long as I stay healthy throughout it so the Maryoku stays in my uterus." Conrad explained with a half-smile that did nothing to calm Shouri's nerves.

"There is a way you can help make Lord Weller's pregnancy safer, Shouri-sama." Gisela spoke up, making the concerned black-eyed terrestrial turn back to her "Once the "Growth Phase" starts, you can have a session with him every week in which you share some of your power with him, that way, if Lord Weller were to have a small accident or get sick, he will have enough Maryoku to heal himself and keep the baby safe at the same time."

"So, if half-breeds without Maryoku can ask someone to share some with them periodically, their risk throughout the pregnancy decreases?" The bespectacled male's worries lowered considerably after hearing that, he could do that without a problem and he had every reason to do it.

"Well, it cannot be anyone's Maryoku-"

"Gisela, wait." Conrart interrupted looking pleadingly at the woman who looked back at him bemusedly.

"What do you mean?" Shouri asked suspiciously looking between the pregnant half-breed and the healer "Gisela, what were you going to say?"

"I…" Gisela trailed off, moving her gaze from one person to the other much like Shouri was doing. Everyone else in the room suddenly started to feel the tension rising even though only the ones who had lived their whole life in the demon world knew what it was that Conrart wanted to keep hidden from the Earth Maou, Yuuri for his part couldn't help but wonder what was going on but he wanted to know just as badly as Shouri who was getting more stressed the longer the female stayed quiet.

"Gisela, answer my question, that's an order." Shouri said at last with a frown and Conrart knew Gisela couldn't go against that so he looked at his lap, defeated. Gisela shot him one last, apologetic look before answering.

"The maternal parent can only receive Maryoku from the baby's paternal parent, anyone else's Maryoku will be rejected by the half-breed's body as a foreign energy and it does not have an effect on the pregnancy."

"… You knew about that?" Shouri turned slowly to Conrad who looked back up at him with a regretful expression "You knew the only one who could share Maryoku with you was me?"

"Shouri-" Yuuri tried to get his brother's attention but he ignored him, keeping his eyes on the former middle prince.

"You knew the only way to lower the risk of your pregnancy was for me, and _only me_, to share Maryoku with you throughout the year and _yet_ you gave me the _option_ to not be here during your pregnancy?" The college student asked through gritted teeth, increasingly getting angrier and angrier with each breath. Conrad looked away without saying a word. Out of the corner of his eye, Shouri could see Yozak wearing an expression that showed nervousness over the situation and he could only imagine the sad expression Yuuri must have had on his face right now but he didn't dare to look at anyone else but the soldier sitting next to him "Are you kidding me? Were you even going to tell me this at some point?"

"Shouri-sama." A gentle voice accompanied by a delicate hand resting on his shoulder made the older soukoku finally look away from Conrad and towards the lilac-haired demon sitting at his other side, the beautiful man had an impassive face and serious eyes as if attempting not to get the Earth Maou more exalted than he already was with his mere expression "This is not the time, you have to control yourself and wait for the appropriate moment to discuss this with Conrad; there are still some things Gisela has to explain to us before this session finishes."

Shouri took a deep breath and looked at his surroundings: He could see Günter's other hand holding onto Gwendal's own while said man kept his eyes on a window instead of looking at anyone else in the room, the grip seemed to be quite strong on the commander's part but his spouse didn't try to pull away; Yuuri for his part had his left arm trapped in Wolfram's arms as if the King had been trying to leave the bed and had been stopped by the blond just in time, both of them looked worriedly at their respective brothers without saying a word; finally, Shouri looked at Yozak who was frowning down at the floor, no doubt wondering if he should say something in his lover's defense after finding out that Conrad hadn't bothered to tell him that vital piece of information about his situation that could endanger his life and the child's existence all-together and of course everyone wanted to have a word with the Weller heir… But not now, Günter was right, there would be time for that after Gisela was done with them; speaking of Gisela, she herself seemed to want to go sergeant on Conrad after finding out the man had decided to put aside his own health in favor of not adding pressure to the double-black's decision to help him out, which was understandable, but reckless none-the-less.

"I apologize." The bespectacled man said at last, resting back against his chair and relaxing his pose, with one last breath and using his right hand to rub his eyes to let out a bit of frustration, black eyes looked back and the only woman in the room "Sorry about that, please continue."

"Very well." Gisela nodded once, her previous aura of kind healer gone, leaving her more severe and intimidating one in its place "Once we reach the second phase, there will be changes in the Maryoku flow, which also falls into the plans with the Maryoku Lord Weller already has in his body; fortunately, having the prince consort and my father close by will help his borrowed Maryoku stay in a manageable level for him so it does not overwhelm him, most half-breeds faint often until they learn how to let the magic move the way it wishes but Lord Weller should be much more stable as long as he spends some time with his brother and my father every day."

"How does the "Maryoku Sharing" work?" Once again, it was the oldest Shibuya child who spoke up "Yuu-chan once told me it happened with Greta when she was younger because she slept in the same bed as him but I don't think that would be the best for our case."

"Physical contact tends to be the best way to share Maryoku so if you held his hand for half an hour focusing on sharing your power then it should suffice for the whole week without overloading him." The woman was well-aware of the situation with Conrart and Yozak so she made sure to give them an option that would be helpful and harmless in hopes of avoiding more awkwardness. Shouri nodded understandingly "He will not be having much trouble during the first month of the second phase anyway, the first four weeks Maryoku users feel their magic lowering and this particular symptom will not actually be felt by Lord Weller, he _will_ however, feel the effects from weeks five trough eight since flowing Maryoku feels stronger."

"He has some time to get used to the Maryoku he'll be borrowing then." Yozak finally used his voice again, he actually wasn't bothered at all with the Maryoku Sharing situation since he knew the way it worked but he _was_ still bothered by Conrart's choice to keep this from the Earth Maou and, in a weird way, talking was one of the ways Yozak found it easier to de-stress "With enough luck, the captain will be able to control Shouri-sama's Maryoku by the time the second month of that phase comes along so he doesn't feel overwhelmed."

"If they start with the process at the start of the fourteenth week there should be no contrarieties." The healer replied and then focused to speaking to the pregnant males. "I do not wish to give you too much information right now about what will happen farther along the pregnancies since I do not want to confuse you, I want the three of you to come to a check-up once per month once you enter the second phase, I will prepare calendars so you do not miss a single appointment; if you do miss an appointment I shall take measures to make sure it does not happen again, understood?"

"Yes, ma'am." All three pregnant men answered at once, even Günter knew not to take his daughters threats lightly.

"As for the rest of the first phase, you can come see me any time you have a question or feel like something is not right, particularly during the time you are expected to bleed." Once she received an affirmative response from everyone in the room, the green-eyed Mazoku asked one final question "Does anyone have anything else you would like to ask?"

All the males shook their heads and looked around their companions to see if anyone else would speak up, Gisela, however, was sure that if any of them had had a question earlier it had been forgotten after the events from moments ago. Deciding not to say anything right now, she cleared he throat and stood from her seat, she would have her own conversation with Conrart Weller later but, right now, the ones who had to express their feelings about his decision were the other men there.

"If you excuse me, I have other matters to attend; you may stay in here as for long as you need it." And with that, she walked out of the room, closing the door after her with a soft click.

The room was left in absolute, awkward silence for a full two minutes before someone dared to break it.

"Heika, Wolfram." Gwendal called, standing from his place still holding Günter's hand although his grip looked considerably gentler than moments ago "We better go, this is not our business."

"But Gwendal-" Both halves of the Royal couple started to complain but a sharp look from the earth-wielder shut them up at once.

"We are leaving now." And without further complaints, the King and his consort followed their fellow noble pair out of the room, Yuuri was the last one in line and, just before he walked out of the room, he looked back at his godfather and his brother and made a circular motion with his finger, letting them know he would be speaking to them later. For the second time in less than five minutes, the door closed and the room was devoid of noise but this was when things had to be settled between the trio of half-breeds.

"I was going to tell you." Conrad finally confessed, opting for keeping his eyes looking straight ahead at Gisela's empty seat "I just wanted you to make your choice without having to think in the possibility of me dying."

"And when were you planning on bringing it up then?" Yozak asked, hoping to keep his tone as leveled as possible; he _had_ assumed Conrart had told the double-black about the Maryoku perk if he stayed but it seemed he hadn't said anything to him yet even knowing the importance of it "What would you have done if Shouri-sama had decided not to stay?"

"I am not planning on getting hurt during my pregnancy." The brunet answered, this time he did look at the person who was speaking to him "The extra Maryoku is to lower the chance of dispersive Maryoku that could get me killed but there have been cases of half-breeds who have given birth to their babies safely."

"Yes, but none of them were part of the King's personal guards." The redhead retorted looking into his lover's eyes for a second before leaving his seat to stand in front of the pregnant man "Just by that mere situation you are in much higher risk of getting hurt than any other half-breed, therefore, Shouri-sama's Maryoku is not just an option: It's a necessity and you already know that."

"If I had brought that up from the start then he would have stayed whether he actually wanted to or not because he would feel like my life depended on his magic." Conrart explained himself.

"It kind of does, don't you think?" Shouri joined the conversation, standing next to the spy as if teaming up with him "You can't guarantee nothing will happen to you; it's a whole year!"

"I get that and I am sorry." The brunet apologized sincerely "And I promise I was going to tell you the situation after this meeting, I just wanted you two to talk first; I did not mean for you to find out through Gisela, I didn't expect the topic to come up."

"How was it not supposed to come up? It's about your safety and the baby's life!" The bespectacled half-breed retorted seriously "Why didn't you tell me right after I decided to stay?"

"Like I said, I was going to tell you later today once I was sure you and Yozak were in good terms because I knew you would not be happy once I told you about this since I had been hiding it but if I had the both of you on the same page I would have one less thing to worry about and… I just thought it would be easier." Conrart sighed looking up at the pair in front of him for a second before focusing on the terrestrial man "I promise I was not taking this lightly, I had just been preparing myself in case I had to depend solely on the Maryoku I already have and was already thinking on ways of keeping myself from danger, when you accepted to stay it lifted a great weight off my shoulders so I didn't let it pressure me and wanted to discuss this with you in private the moment I had the chance; I know I should have been with you two earlier today and I am sorry I wasn't. I acted selfishly and that is not fair but I swear, on my honor as soldier, I will not keep anything from you for the rest of the pregnancy, either one of you; this is our child now, of all three of us, and I am going to treat it as such."

"I hope you know I want to kill you right now." Shouri retorted and Yozak almost entered the conversation again but decided against it, the concept of the brunet not receiving that extra help to ensure his safety had scared him and also made him all the more thankful Shouri had accepted to stay even without knowing this, he didn't want to think on the possibilities of having Conrart in real danger just by withholding this information.

"I do." The brown-eyed man nodded once also keeping his face serious "I also know you are not the only one who thinks that way but I want to know where we stand now."

"As far as I'm concerned, so long as you don't pull anything like this again I have nothing else to tell you but you seriously need to stop keeping things for yourself because it has caused you more problems than it has avoided." Shouri replied at last before turning away from both the other men and walking towards the door "I'm going to meet with my brother, I shall see you at dinner."

"…I thought you said you trusted him." Yozak said once the door was safely closed, he went to sit by Conrart again as brown eyes met his blue ones.

"I do but I did not think it was that urgent to mention since he decided to stay already." The soldier replied with a half shrug "I thought I could ask him, calmly, to share Maryoku with me every now and then to help me stay stabilized."

"So you were never actually going to tell him that it would make the chances of you and the baby dying less likely?" Yozak raised an eyebrow and, when he received no answer, he sighed "He would have found out eventually, and so would his Majesty; there are some things you just can't keep hidden no matter how much you want to."

"Yes, as it turns out, I made everyone upset because I was not completely honest with Shouri." Conrart conceded with a nod "I really should have told him, it would have saved us that scene earlier and he wouldn't have gotten so stressed."

"You can be pretty dumb for a man who already passed his first century." Yozak said playfully but they understood the seriousness behind it "Are you ready to get a good scolding before dinner?"

"Who do you think will be the first one to get me?"

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**TBC~**


	8. Planning

**Fanfiction title:**Triple threat _(Working title)_

**Fanfiction summary:**One is exciting, two is nerve-wracking, but THREE might just be their demise. Because there's just something about pregnancies that makes everyone lose their minds.

**Chapter title:**Planning.

**Chapter number:**8/?

**A/N: **I had the hardest time with this chapter, I re-wrote it 3 times before I was happy with it. I had to take into consideration how Yuuri would react, what the family would say, how to keep them as IC as I could and where to end this. I added stuff from the Light Novel and the manga, I do plan on doing something with Sara's family by the way though nothing actually heavy since I want to have this story with lighter tone.

Next chapter I'll have it from Gwendal's POV! Finally something for him, he'll be reacting to the responses they get to their announcement, let's see if we can add more wrinkles to that face.

Also, I wanted to ask you guys if you like the current title or if you have any ideas for a new name for story because I'm honestly in blank, I have no ideas so if you have any feel free to share them!

I'd be happy to hear your opinion on my story with your reviews. Also please remember English is not my first language and I don't have a beta reader so please forgive me for each and every spelling and grammatical mistake you find.

Without further ado, please enjoy!

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**Chapter 8: Planning**

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"Are you in here, Yuu-chan?" Shouri called, opening the door to his brother's office without knocking, hoping to find him there instead of having to look for him throughout the castle.

"I thought it'd take you a bit longer to meet me." Luckily, Yuuri was in there seated at his desk with some papers resting on top of it; Shouri was actually surprised to see his little brother working on his dreaded paperwork all alone in his office but he had to remember it had been ten years since Yuuri became King, unlike the two he had spent learning on Earth.

"No-one's accompanying you today?" Yuuri shook his head with an amused smile.

"Wolf said he needed to lay down so he went back to our room which happens to be a few rooms away from Conrad's bedroom, Gwendal said he had to meet with the soldiers of tonight's shift even if we just ate breakfast so he went to the training grounds and Günter said he wanted to catch up on some reading so he said he'd go to the library which, coincidentally, is on the same hallway as Conrad's office." The younger male said before sighing "I was hoping to get started on the preparations for the pregnancy announcement and all but I want to have Gwendal and Günter help me plan that. Also, I think we need to have a meeting and see what we'll do about Conrad's situation."

"How do you want to handle that?" The bespectacled youth asked, taking a seat at the meeting table, his brother stood from his place behind his desk to sit across him instead before answering.

"I have no idea to be honest, right now, all I know is that I want Greta to know but maybe it would be better if we kept it a secret from everyone else like everybody's suggesting?" Yuuri admitted truthfully "Although everyone in the castle will know and it's just a matter of time before the whole kingdom and nobles hear the news from them and even if we managed to keep this within the castle grounds, hiding a child once it's born is something we can't do and I, personally, think it would be wrong _to_ hide this, I mean; Conrad's keeping the baby because he wants to so shouldn't we celebrate it too?... Still, I'm worried about him being bullied or something over this."

"My presence here should help with that to some extent, shouldn't it?" The older brother asked with what appeared to be a hopeful tone.

"From what I understand, you can help Conrad if the harassment becomes too serious because if you tell them to stop they will stop but…"

"But, once they find out the child is mine they'll want a wedding, right?" Shouri finished the sentence and received a nod as a response which made him lower his gaze "This is going to be awkward."

"I want to thank you though." Black eyes raise to meet the opposite's own black pools, silently asking for details "For staying; Conrad has always been harassed because of his human blood and now, having a child without marriage and with the Maou's brother no less, we all fear people will start treating him badly again. Since he rejected the power offered to him after the war and never went to take Dai Shimaron's crown, he's still just a bodyguard so he has no say over the nobles."

"You have nothing to thank me." The Earth Maou said with a shake of his head "If anything, it's my fault Conrad's in this situation to begin with so I couldn't just not stay."

"I've been wanting to ask you this since I found out you'd stay but I couldn't find the right moment." Yuuri confessed, resting his hand on the desk attempting to look serious which was kind of cute in Shouri's opinion "Are you going to be ok? Are you completely sure about this?"

"Throwing my own questions back at me? That's hardly fair." The comment was a sad try at comedy but the oldest Shibuya offspring felt slightly relived to see his brother smile proudly at his verbal stunt "I'm going to be ok but I can't say I'm completely sure yet; I told Conrad I wanted to try though and it might take up until the child's birth to figure myself out."

"Did you tell dad about this already?"

"Actually, mom did it for me and that gave dad a full hour and a half to get used to the idea before you brought me back to get the stuff I needed." Shouri said amusedly "I had to sit through an awkward attempt of a safe-sex talk, an interrogation about my feelings for Conrad and a long lecture about responsibility… Now I know where I got that from, by the way."

"And, you really have no feelings whatsoever for Conrad?" The bespectacled terrestrial actually snorted at that.

"Not to be rude but I think I'd sooner kill him than fall in love with him."

"Can't lie, I'm kind of relieved about that." Yuuri admitted, scratching the back of his head "I would feel kind of weird if I saw you dating, it's already way too strange to think you two are having a baby since that reminds me you actually had sex with my Godfather."

"I'm still not proud of that at all, believe me, and I'm not even thinking about dating any time soon so you don't have to worry about me." Shouri assured "I'm going to be focusing one hundred percent on taking care of Conrad so the pregnancy goes perfectly. Of course I'll make sure to help Wolfram and Günter while I'm at it."

"I'm just hoping the castle can handle all three of them together." Yuuri said nervously "If even Lady Cheri wants to leave for a while it can't be a good sign."

"It can't be that hard with all of us here, right?" Even the usually self-assured brother was unsure of his own words. A moment of silence passed between the two, not knowing how to continue the conversation.

"Anyway, I better get back to what I was doing, do you want to wait here until lunch?" The baseball fan asked, moving back behind his desk and picking up the paper he had been working on moments ago.

"Maybe I could help you with your paperwork." Shouri proposed walking up to his relative "What are you reading now?"

"I'm actually writing a letter to Greta to let her know, I want this one to be more personal." Yuuri smiled sheepishly and the taller youth instantly felt like a fool.

"And to think I actually admired you for a moment."

* * *

"Your Majesty, did you want to see me?"

"It's Yuuri, Nazukeoya." Yuuri reacted automatically, looking up from an actual official document to his fellow half-breed standing under the threshold of the Maou's office, he had been left alone a while ago since Shouri said he wanted to start doing some reading on the maternity books he brought from Earth; he was actually surprised no-one had come join him yet "Come in, did you meet with the others already?"

"Yes, I was sent to my room by all of them." Conrad joked, stepping into the room and closing the door after him "Are you going to leave me without dinner?"

"I just want to know why you didn't say anything." The double-black out his document aside as his guest stood in front of his desk "I know Shouri is staying now and he'll help you out but I have to wonder, what were you thinking on doing if he left? Was I ever going to find out you were at such risk without my brother?"

"I was already making plans to stay safe throughout the year, I knew you would worry and I did not want to add that when you will have to care for Wolfram." The brunet confessed "It was selfish, even more so because I was deciding everything by myself and a good deal of my planning involved using Yozak and my soldiers to do a lot of things in my place and, even though they will have to do it still, I was hoping it would be enough to make sure I didn't get hurt and would not use up the baby's Maryoku."

"And what were you thinking on doing if I offered to share my power with you?" The Maou asked with a frown "Lie to me saying someone else already did?"

"That is exactly what I was planning on doing." Conrad admitted with a nod "But I soon realized that you would ask who shared it and any name I told you, you would go thank them and find out I lied and that I can't receive Maryoku from anyone but the baby's Paternal parent."

"Did you have a plan for after I found out?" The younger male asked with a raised eyebrow, his expression a rather cute try at Gwendal's usually stern expression.

"Beg for forgiveness." The soldier answered with an apologetic smile, one which the Soukoku fought against responding with a smile of his own, trying to remain serious in this situation until everything had been said.

"You know everything would be easier if you just talked to us." The young monarch said with a shake of his head "I don't know why you still feel the need to hide things from us, especially important things such as this."

"Shouri and Yozak said the same to me and I promised to be completely honest with them for the rest of the pregnancy, I also promised the same to Günter, Gwendal and Wolfram so I will do it again just for you." Conrad then bowed in front of his ruler, right hand over his heart "I swear, on my honor, I will not hide anything from you or anyone else involved in our current situation and will make sure to ask for help whenever I need it."

"That sounds good enough." Yuuri nodded once and finally let his face relax for a moment before he became concerned again "How are you feeling, Conrad? About all this."

"I swore to not lie so, I am kind of scared, I had never thought about getting pregnant but, then again, I never thought half of the things that happened to me would ever happen." The former prince said with a sigh "But everyone here has been so supportive and have shown me they will stay with me; I am much less afraid than I was when I found out and, in a way, I'm kind of excited now to see what this experience is going to be like."

"We'll be with you all the way through, I promise you that." The Maou smiled widely and Conrad smiled sincerely back at him. The moment was quickly broken by a knock on the door "Come in!"

"Your Majesty, lunch is being served." Sangria informed after opening the door, bowing at her King.

"Thank you, we'll be right there."

* * *

"Very well, now that we are all here we can discuss how we shall proceed." Gwendal said directing his attention to the people seated around the table in his office while he himself sat on his desk chair with a paper in hand, it's not that he really needed to have the paper with the topics they'd be discussing but it gave him a faint sense of order. The people accompanying him were his husband, his King, his King's brother, his Great Sage –who had been summoned by the Maou just before lunch so he could be here for the meeting-, his own two brothers, his most valuable spy and his mother; they could barely fit in the room but they managed.

Gwendal had been very stressed over the last few days: Finding out he was expecting a child with his husband was wonderful news and he was more than happy to discover said husband wanted to have the baby as well but his two younger brothers being pregnant was _not_ in his plans, even less that his half-breed brother had been impregnated out of wedlock and by such a big figure in the kingdom… Although, he had to admit, it could have been worse; the kid's other parent could have been someone who would force Conrart into marriage so the child wouldn't be considered a bastard or someone who would take the child from Conrart when they were born and not let them be together or, the worst possibility, someone who would force an abortion even if that meant harming the brunet himself so Shouri was the best option in this situation if they had to have one.

"The first order of business is what will be said in the official letters to our allies, which allies will be the ones to receive a letter and when will the party be held." The Earth-wielder started, moving his gaze to his king who smiled innocently as usual.

"I thought it was a given all our allies would receive a letter." The Maou said happily "I would have liked to write a personal letter to a few of them but I suppose it's better to have the same one to all of them and just personalize them if they reply. Although I did write a special letter for Greta, so I want to send that one to her."

"You wrote her a letter without me!?" Wolfram asked incredulously with a frown, Yuuri was quick to raise his hands in defense.

"I was going to show it to you so you could read it over and decide if it needed any changes or in case you want to add anything of your own!" That seemed to calm the blond down before he started rambling about how he was such an unfair husband and everything else the whole castle was used to by now, Gwendal was glad the terrestrial had learned to deal with the fireball after so many years of being together, even if they still argued every now and then, their fights wouldn't be as physical or as long as they used to be when they had first met.

"So you want everyone we have signed a treaty with to be informed of this?" Gwendal asked Yuuri before he could say anything else that could start an argument.

"Yeah, they're our allies so I think they should be informed." Yuuri nodded "Although, I'm not sure we should have everyone at the party, maybe we should send invitations separately? Just to those who have tried to keep communicating beyond work, like the ones we consider our friends."

"Is there anyone you don't consider a friend, Shibuya?" Murata entered the conversation with a question he hoped would annoy his friend a little, just poking fun at Yuuri's overly friendly nature everyone always warned him about.

"Of course there is!" The Sage's taunt worked and the King tried to compose himself as soon as he realized it before continuing "I mean, I don't remember some of the people we've signed peace treaties with so maybe we could leave those out?"

"You _are_ aware you should know them all by name at least, right?" Wolfram asked his husband with a raised eyebrow, folding his arms over his chest. Yuuri laughed sheepishly at the glare he was receiving and Gwendal could swear he heard his youngest brother mumbling a short word under his breath but he paid it no mind.

"What about the King of Seisakoku?" Günter was the one who asked this time "We have not signed anything with him yet but we have worked with him before and I presume we will be inviting his twin, the King of Shimaron."

"Yelshi?" The questioned youth cocked his head to the side "I would like to invite him although I don't think he'll come."

Gwendal remembered King Yelshi; some time ago, King Saralegui had received notice that something wrong was happening in Seisakoku and needed to travel there immediately, the Maou just happened to be visiting when the message arrived so, of course, Yuuri and his usual party went with the blond King to the holy land only to find out Alazon was dying due to a rare illness not even holy power could cure. It was then when everyone, including Saralegui, met Yelshi for the first time. Apparently, Alazon had given birth not to one, but two children, one of which was stillborn; Alazon used the power of the box Inferno on the Tundra to bring her child back to life, which was forbidden, and then sent him away with his father in hopes of stopping the shadow of death looming over him from growing, claiming she did it due to his lack of Shinzoku powers instead. Yelshi, much like Saralegui, possessed his own powers although his worked on dead people rather than living ones, he had heard of Saralegui from his mother and knew about him but had remained hidden in hopes of not burdening his brother anymore by making him think their mother had, not only abandoned him, but played favorites with her children and chosen one to keep for herself; it was this reason what made Berias also hide the truth from the nephew under his care. Needless to say, the bespectacled king felt more than a little betrayed, again.

Saralegui had kind of forgiven the woman after she put herself in danger for him and was coming to terms with the fact she had always wanted to protect him and had never actually abandoned him but, with the revelation of Yelshi's existence, Gwendal saw how he felt left out again; his family was still hiding things from him and, even though he had acted civil during Alazon's funeral, Gwendal had seen the way he avoided his twin brother and uncle in favor of staying close to Yuuri –much to Wolfram's dismay- until the double-black made the twins sit down and talk it out.

It ended up well enough, Saralegui started speaking to his brother and promised to help him become a good king to Seisakoku while he became King of Shimaron and went back to treating Berias as his personal guard instead of a stranger. Yelshi claimed he had received lessons to run his country but accepted the help given to him because he was very shy and knew he needed to be more charismatic and outspoken if he wanted to be a good representative for his people. Yuuri, of course, offered to help him as well and Yelshi accepted although he said he wouldn't sign anything with either King yet since he wanted Seisakoku to stay hidden for a while longer until he could run the place smoothly and make its people happy. He also couldn't forget Shinzoku were still discriminated by humans and were still not in the best terms with Mazoku so Saralegui and Yuuri promised to help him in that aspect with their respective races. So far, both kings and their allies had found a few Shinzoku fugitives and slaves in different countries and had made sure to free them and offer them a safe place to stay if they didn't want to go back to their country, there was a Shinzoku village near Shimaron which Saralegui made sure to keep safe and the quantity of attacks against these holy people had decreased immensely over the last few years.

"Last we heard from King Saralegui, his brother didn't feel quite ready to show himself outside of Seisakoku yet so you might be right." The Daikenja acknowledged with a nod "It couldn't hurt to invite him though, and he does know Lord von Bielefeld and Lord von Christ so just letting him know shouldn't be bad, his brother will tell him either way if he doesn't hear it from us."

"We wouldn't tell him about Conrad?" Yuuri asked moving his gaze from his best friend to the commander who answered right away.

"Your Majesty, while it is true that we cannot hide Conrart's situation for long, I think it would be better if we did not give anyone the chance to come prepared for it." The pair of Maou's in the room looked confusedly at him but it wasn't him who answered them.

"If we told them about Conrart beforehand, you can be sure some people will come prepared with ideas, propositions or even insults directed towards him so the best approach would be to let them find out on their own; the shock might shake them up enough to leave them unable to do much without appearing uncouth in a social event." Günter explained like the instructor he was.

"So we're going to tell them directly?" Shouri asked the advisor.

"Only when they ask."

"How can you be so sure they'll ask?" The Earth Maou kept the questions coming, just as expected.

"Haven't you noticed, my best friend's big brother?" Shouri glared at Murata but that didn't deter the sage's know-it-all attitude "You need to practice more with that perception of yours."

"What are you talking about, Murata?" Yuuri entered the conversation before Shouri attempted to start a battle of wits he was likely going to lose.

"Conrart has, for lack of a better term, a Maryoku aura surrounding him right now." Wolfram explained to his husband, receiving a blank expression that had become less common in the King's face but could still appear at times like this one "You know Mazoku with Maryoku can feel the presence of magic if it has been used, Shouri's Maryoku is now flowing within Conrart and people with magic training will feel this power as soon as they get within arms-length of him since he does not possess magic of his own. Humans cannot notice it, I am not sure if Saralegui can either but every full-blooded Mazoku you invite is likely to notice it and they will also recognize it as Shouri's power once they have been close enough to both of them so they will, most probably, realize what is going on sooner rather than later."

"I don't think we should do that." Yuuri said, surprising everyone in the room "We shouldn't hide Conrad's pregnancy, we should celebrate it too."

"Heika-"

"No, Conrad, we're not doing it!" The Maou interrupted his fellow half-breed –letting the title slide this time-, already knowing what he wanted to say "I wasn't sure at first but, after talking to you, I've made up my mind."

"Did you not hear what Günter just explained?" Wolfram asked leaning over the table –since he was standing on the side opposite to his husband's- and making sure Yuuri's black eyes met his green ones as an intimidating gesture he'd mastered over the years "If they know beforehand we give them the chance to come armed."

"But we can fight back!" Yuuri stood from his seat and faced against his Consort without missing a beat; the King had taken a decision and wouldn't back down "He will be with all of us and Shouri won't leave his side, right?!"

"What?" Shouri asked surprised when his younger brother's black eyes stared straight into his own, demanding an immediate answer "Yeah, sure, just in case I'm needed since I believe Yozak won't be able to join us."

"He won't?" The King's eyes turned to spy leaning against the wall by the door who, as opposed to the oldest Shibuya offspring, was able to keep his cool under that gaze and shook his head.

"Even if I were allowed to be in the party, my romantic relationship with the Captain has never actually been acknowledged in front of anyone but our closest friends so none of the nobles know we're together and, considering the circumstances, I would say we should keep it hidden from them." Yozak explained, just the faintest hint of sadness in his voice "It'll be easier for them to accept a child of the Maou's brother out of wedlock over a child out of wedlock _while_ being involved with someone else, even more so when that someone is but an unnamed spy."

"Oh… I see your point." Yuuri replied awkwardly "But, wait, the whole castle knows you're an item even if you haven't said it out loud; they'll let it escape to the streets as soon as they find out the child is Shouri's."

"Well, we could make it sound a little less important than it is." Murata spoke up, the light hitting his glasses in a way that it hid his eyes from everyone else "If you really do want to battle against the nobles I mean."

"What are you thinking, Murata?" Yuuri asked suspiciously but it only made the Sage's smirk all the more playful.

"Sir Weller wasn't the only one who succumbed to the aphrodisiac that day." Ken answered shrugging one shoulder "If gossip will go around town about him then we could also let people know about the other nobles who shared a bed with some unexpected people that night."

"Did you see them?" Gwendal asked genuinely curious; he knew the guests had been very careful the next morning to not be caught and, while he was aware a lot of the nobles invited were too ashamed the next day to face anyone for longer than a farewell, the maids and guards were guessing who had slept together because none of them actually _saw_ any couple leave the same room; that's the main reason they didn't know about Conrart's escapade with Shouri until he confessed it himself.

"If our King wants me to say yes." The Daikenja answered, making sure his eyes met Yuuri's letting him know he was serious with his statement.

"… If that will help lower the impact of Conrad's situation," Yuuri started, evidently unsure about using such a dirty method to help his close friend but without a better plan it seemed like the most viable option "Ok."

"I'll make the necessary arrangements to have everything going tomorrow, it shouldn't be too hard." Murata promised with a wide smile and Gwendal took this chance to get back in the conversation.

"Very well, we will get into more detail on how to deal with the guests when we get closer to the day of the celebration but we have to decide first when it will take place."

"I was thinking we could make it on the twelfth week." Yuuri proposed "It will give time for all letters to get to their destination and get everyone's reply and if some of them want to stay a little longer after the party they can do it without us worrying about the symptoms."

"That is actually not a bad plan, your Majesty." Günter smiled widely but he wasn't overreacting as he usually would, the earth wielder could see his King looking curiously at his advisor, surely wondering why he was so calm but the King didn't need to know Günter had thrown up right after lunch and wasn't feeling all that well while Wolfram's earlier nausea was practically gone by now.

"Twelfth week it is." The Mazoku army commander took note on his paper and moved onto the next topic "Now, how will we give the news to the town?"

"We can call the townspeople to the castle grounds and have his Majesty give the announcement from the balcony, the Kotsuhizoku can use their telepathic abilities to tell those who cannot hear or come at all." Lady Celli proposed, to what Shouri promptly questioned.

"Why can't we use that method for the nobles all over the country? It'd be much faster."

"Etiquette, mainly." Conrart spoke up from his place by the door, he had been offered a seat, just like the other two pregnant males but all three of them had refused to take them, 'habit' they claimed "We can do that but it is considered to be much more proper to send an individual letter they can respond to with their feelings and it is also more private so they can be honest with their emotions without having to worry about their subjects knowing them."

"Doesn't seem practical at all." Despite the fact it was meant to be a serious comment, it made most people in the room smile.

"It may not be but it is the way things still work here." The brunet answered with a shrug.

"Public announcement from the balcony then, when do you want to do it?" Gwendal turned back to his ruler only to have someone other than said youth answer him, again.

"The sooner the better so I say we do it tomorrow." It was the Prince Consort who answered, leaving the King surprised by the answer.

"Tomorrow?" Yuuri asked fearfully "Don't be cruel! Give me a couple of days to prepare at least!"

"You have given public announcements dozens of times over the last decade, you know how to do it!" The blond retorted not willing to let his spouse have his way "The castle is already full of gossip, albeit they have been considerably quieter than usual due to Anissina's threats but it is just a matter of time before they find out the truth and let the townspeople know before we have the chance to tell them."

"Ok, ok! I get it!" The Maou exclaimed before sighing "We'll do it tomorrow then."

"Hmph, wimp."

"I'm not a wimp!"

"Günter, can you have a speech prepared for his Majesty before dinner?" Gwendal asked his husband, wanting to keep the meeting going.

"Of course, I shall start working right away." Günter assured with a nod which the Earth wielder answered with one of his own.

"Then, your Majesty, you and I need to write those letters."

"All of them just the two of us?!" Now the Maou sounded more than a little panicked "Please, if I already accepted we can't write them each an individual letter can't we just use the copying machine Anissina uses for her books?"

"Heika, I thought you wanted to make this as personal as possible." It was odd for Gwendal to joke but when he did, he did it with malice.

"But we have to send over fifty letters _not_counting the invitations!" Yuuri complained "P-Plus! We won't be done before I have to go to bed so I won't be able to even read Günter's speech and we don't want all his effort going to waste, right?"

"Yes, your Excellency." Yozak spoke up from his place, trying to smile innocently "You wouldn't let your precious husband's work go to waste, would you?"

"He can read the speech tomorrow as he is giving it." Gwendal retorted but Conrart didn't miss a beat.

"You have always said a King should be absolutely prepared for a public presentation and that reading is not acceptable."

"Besides, I don't want Yuuri missing sleep when it isn't necessary so if there's a copying machine available there's no reason for it not to be used." Shouri decided to join the Maou's defense committee "I've seen Anissina's books, they look as if they were written by hand."

"Come on, Gwen." And to add in the last two cents: The 26th Maou herself "You would not separate his Majesty from his beloved Prince Consort at night, would you?"

"Mother!" A flushed Wolfram yelled but his mother didn't even spare him a glance.

"See? Please?" Yuuri walked up to Gwendal's desk and looked pleadingly at him with his big black eyes that, to this day, the Voltaire Lord couldn't resist for the life of him and, thus, could do nothing but sigh defeated.

"On one condition." Gwendal said before anyone could feel too accomplished "Yuuri Heika will write the letter and the invitation by himself, I shall be there merely to supervise and approve the final papers; do we have a deal?"

"Deal!" Yuuri accepted without a second thought, anything was better than writing over fifty letters.

"Very well, now that that is settled, we all have to get back to our chores." The Earth wielder stood from his seat and directed his attention to everyone in the room "Wolfram, Conrart; get to the training grounds, Conrart you better be careful or I will lock you up in a dungeon."

"Yes, Big Brother." Both of them answered in unison, Conrart couldn't help a small smile from escaping, knowing his brother understood his joke.

"Your Highness, do you need help with your plan?"

"No, Lord von Voltaire." Murata answered with a shake of his head "I do, however, need a ride into town and, also, can I borrow Yozak?"

"Sure, just be careful." Gwendal acceded without a problem "Günter, will you be working here?"

"Actually, may I join you in Yuuri-Heika's office? If I'm with you I can have feedback on my work much faster." Günter asked with a hopeful smile and Gwendal could see through it right away: Next to the Maou's office was a bathroom which could come in handy for his nausea if he needed it and he wasn't about to deny his spouse the chance to make things easier for him.

"Of course." With that, blue eyes turned to the last two people left "Mother, Shouri-sama; you are free to do as you please."

"Oh! Maybe I could entertain Shouri-sama for a while?" Celli proposed leaning over to the bespectacled water wielder who blushed and leaned away from her.

"A-actually, I need to get some more reading done so I'll see you later." With that said, Shouri positively flew out of the room and slammed the door behind him, leaving a rather disappointed Sexy Queen staring after him.

"Ugh, fine. I will go take the maternity clothing into a closet until you are ready to wear it." The woman said with a sigh "I will have to ask Anissina and Gisela to give me a hand lest the maids find out before the announcement tomorrow."

"Very well, now that everyone has a task, let us get started."

* * *

TBC~


	9. Responses

**Fanfiction title:**Triple threat _(Working title)_

**Fanfiction summary:**One is exciting, two is nerve-wracking, but THREE might just be their demise. Because there's just something about pregnancies that makes everyone lose their minds.

**Chapter title:**Responses.

**Chapter number:**9/?

**A/N: **I finally got it done and I'm so sorry for the wait. From this moment on I will add the pregnancy week to the title so you and I can keep track of where exactly we are along the pregnancy. I had a bit of a hard time this time because I wanted to try to portray the different way of speech each Noble would have in my opinion, obviously since I don't speak Japanese I can't pinpoint the differences of speech each character originally has so I tried to give the nobles depicted here a personality through their writing that kind of identified them as the characters we saw in the anime.

Next episode we will skip a couple of weeks, just to add a bit of humor to the story and get the pregnancy really going.

Also, I wanted to ask you guys if you like the current title or if you have any ideas for a new name for story because I'm honestly in blank, I have no ideas so if you have any feel free to share them!

I'd be happy to hear your opinion on my story with your reviews. Also please remember English is not my first language and I don't have a beta reader so please forgive me for each and every spelling and grammatical mistake you find.

Without further ado, please enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 9: Responses**

**(Fifth Week- Preparation Phase)**

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Gwendal had thought it was going to be a good day, he really, really did.

He had woken up that morning in his bed right at the break of dawn, the sun barely peeking over the horizon casting the softest of lights into his room. His bed had been moved from its position against the wall towards the center of the room after he married so his husband could have access to the bed at any moment without having to climb over him all the time, the new place allowed the light to hit the bed from its headboard during this time of the day and it gave Gwendal the chance to see his spouse's pale face and hair shine with that soft illumination and, while he still preferred how Günter looked like under the moonlight, seeing him sleeping peacefully under the light of dawn never failed to give him the best start of the day he could ask for.

The blue-eyed Mazoku gave himself a couple of minutes to just stare at the person lying next to him before proceeding to get ready for the day, Günter would usually wake up half an hour after Gwendal did so he didn't have a problem waiting for him to get up as well most days but he had to make the morning rounds with the guards so he might as well just take a bath right now and get started early so the guards from the night shift could go to bed soon; he was in a really good mood.

The rounds had gone by rather quickly and Gwendal soon found himself sitting at the dining table with his family, the pregnant males were feeling much better now that their symptoms had stopped and were eating as much as they could before they went back to puking every other meal. Breakfast was served by the maids and it was accompanied by the amiable chatter of everyone in there, the air was relaxed and overall pleasant and it had been as such for the last two days after the announcement to the townspeople had been made.

The people's response to the announcement had been surprisingly positive in every way so far. The castle knew about the three pregnancies and, despite all the gossip surrounding Conrart's case, no-one had been overly nosy or at all insulting and seemed to be enjoying making polls about who Conrart would end up with, silly of course but it kept them entertained. As far as the townspeople went, it was decided during the redaction of the letters and the speech that it wouldn't be made public who was Conrart's baby's paternal father as they were bound to either hear it from someone else or find out themselves like Wolfram had pointed out to the double-blacks so they just left them guessing in the meantime but the people in the capital had made no complaint or attempt to hurt the brunet so it was assumed they were happy with the announcement, possibly even amused given the fact there were three pregnant males in total and anyone who had faced a male pregnancy before was likely laughing at their expense. Still, the acceptance of the matter made everything easier on everyone and had the King happy and proud about his people, he had proven his methods to be the best course of action… again.

Once the meal was done, Gwendal walked to his office, greeting the guards he passed by with a nod, already thinking on the paperwork he had to do from the Voltaire lands; he was planning on traveling there for a couple of days in about a month and, if Günter pleased, they could also go to the Christ lands before the party just to make sure everything was going as smoothly as their stand-ins assured them, they had never failed them though so this was mainly a formality since they _were_ still part of the Ten Nobles and, as such, needed to visit their lands at least every now and then and they wouldn't get another chance to do it for almost ten months. It also would give him the chance to be alone with his husband for a few days, it's been some time since they had last spent time together outside the castle, let alone without anyone from their family close by; he didn't like to express affection openly, he only did it in the privacy of a closed room with his beloved so this would be a good opportunity to just enjoy their relationship on their own.

Gwendal had been so hopeful for the rest of the day up until then it was almost laughable, he certainly felt like letting out a sardonic laugh when he got to his office and found a pile of letters on his desk, all addressed to King Yuuri and all of which had to go through him first to dispose of those without importance to the kingdom but he knew exactly what all the letters regarded without opening them or even reading the sender: They were responses to the pregnancies announcement.

For a moment, he thought about opening them and reading them himself like any other letter and just burn any he felt unfitting to give to the Maou in his humble opinion but this was a more personal matter that went beyond negotiations or petitions. He could argue he opened them because it was likely there were words directed at him in some of these letters talking about his and Günter's future child but it was a weak argument still when the only addressee was the double-black monarch… There was an exception to that though; a single letter addressed to him, the handwriting delicate and ornate reminding him to that of a certain pregnant fire-wielder and it was obvious seeing as how it was him who taught the current Queen of Zorashia how to write Mazoku, deeming his then-fiancé's handwriting vulgar and unfitting of a princess.

Deciding to save that letter for after all the others had been read just in case his mood would go downhill after the first one was opened, he took the documents and made his way to his King's office without looking at any of the senders, he did count the envelopes though, there were 12 in total. As he passed by some guards he requested them to fetch all the people involved and ask them to get to the Maou's office as soon as possible.

And that brought him to the present, standing next to his ruler's occupied chair while six pair of eyes looked at them expectantly.

"Ok, we have responses from Greta, Hristo Cruyff and all 10 Noble houses." Yuuri announced with a small, uncertain smile "Although I think the ones from Voltaire and Christ should be read by you two guys, they likely are just informing you how the news were received in your lands."

"They should be just congratulatory responses, they _are_ addressed to you after all." Gwendal replied easily "They are working on our behalf so consider them as if they were our responses."

"Ok…" The double-black looked uncertainly and the envelopes on his desk, indecisive on what to do next "Which one should we open first?"

"How about we read first the one from Hristo Cruyff?" Wolfram proposed walking closer to the desk, his posture looking somewhat stiff "And save Greta's for last."

"Easing into it and finishing with something sweet." Yozak said with a smirk, Gwendal could easily tell his spy was trying to do something about the nervousness in the room and whether it worked with everyone else it certainly didn't work with him since he had in mind the middle part as opposed to the beginning and ending.

"Ok, let's see." Yuuri picked up the envelope and cut through it with the letter opener. Taking out the letter, the Maou cleared his throat and read out loud:

"_Dear King Yuuri:_

_First and foremost I would like to congratulate you on this new stage of your life and I want to extend my felicitations to Lord von Voltaire and his spouse as well as to Sir Weller. I appreciate your consideration in sending me a letter informing me of the wonderful news as well as an invitation to me and my family to the celebration you shall be holding for the future parents; I'm pleased to know our relationship has stayed strong enough for me to receive the honor of accompanying the Royal Shin Makoku family in such an important event._

_If I may share my personal experience, having a child is one of the most rewarding experiences in life and, while I have not forgotten about Princess Greta, raising a son or daughter from birth has different challenges to those you were faced with when you adopted the young Princess and I can only imagine what will happen once three newborns share the castle at the same time. As a human, I am still unaware of how male pregnancy works beyond its lengthy duration but it's still a pregnancy so all I can tell you until we can meet in person again is to take care of your prince consort and be there for him and please make sure to alleviate any stress he might feel, my suggestion also goes to Lord von Christ and Sir Weller in hopes they all will have a healthy pregnancy._

_I can confirm you I'll be attending your celebration with my daughter and we're looking forward to meeting you again._

_Yours truly, Hristo Cruyff."_

"We can get started on our 'Confirmed' list now!" Lady Celli exclaimed with a wide smile and spreading her arms in glee "I haven't seen little Beatrice since Greta left the Castle, I bet she looks more beautiful now than she already was."

"I knew we could count on Bal- Hristo Cruyff to start off this nicely!" Yuuri folded the letter and put it back into the envelope. These few seconds allowed Gwendal to breathe a sigh of relief, he spared a look to his half-breed brother and saw him leaning against the wall next to the door in his usual pose with his eyes closed, Yozak was in the exact same position on the right end of the door giving the entrance a weird air of front door to some kind of noble establishment instead of an office's interior. The commander then looked at his husband who instantly returned his gaze, Gwendal wanted some reassurance the rest of letters would be as good as the first one and he got a great deal of it from the violet eyes looking back at him.

"Well the one from Voltaire says pretty much what you guessed, Gwendal." Gwendal turned to his King who was reading another letter, from his point of view he could see it was a fairly short text just as he expected "It's basically saying '_Congratulations to everyone'_, they do mention Conrad so I think they're ok with it at your castle."

"They should be, considering who they are talking about." The Earth-wielder commented with pride of his stand-in, soldiers, servants and such that lived in his castle; they knew who Conrart was and what he meant to the head of the Voltaire family so they respected the brunet just like they respected any other member of the former Royal family. The double-black gave him a smile and moved onto the next letter

"And the one from Christ lands is basically the same." The King sounded pretty amused by this fact, he even let out a chuckle as he put the paper back inside the envelope "I think your lands married when you did."

"Our lands have a long history of companionship even before Gwendal and I became head of our respective houses, our families have always had similar mindsets in political and military affairs as well as-"

"It was meant to be a joke, Günter." Yuuri interrupted before the fair haired man could get too deep into this History lesson and it seemed like everyone was thankful their ruler intervened, even Gwendal didn't feel like listening to a long lecture at the moment "Here we have Del Kierson von Wincott's letter:

_Dear King Yuuri;_

_On behalf of my family and my land, I congratulate you and Lord von Bielefeld on your future offspring and thank the consideration for the invitation to the festivity to be held soon. I want to extend these words to Lord von Voltaire and Lord von Christ who will be blessed with a child not long after marriage and which, I am sure, shall be an invaluable addition to the heritage of the Ten Noble houses as much as your own child will be to the Royal History of Shin Makoku._

_On a more personal note, you are aware of how dear Sir Weller is to the Wincott family and, while I am ignorant of his situation at this moment, rest assured I wish only for the best in his case as well. I have never personally met a male half-breed that became pregnant but I am aware of the risks it entails and how hard it is for the maternal parent to carry the baby full-term. I may be stepping on prohibited ground with my next words, but I'm grateful he has his family and yourself to look after Sir Weller and help him through this so this experience won't be something he regrets but rather something he can enjoy as the beginning of a new phase of his life; I do hope parenthood will be as rewarding to you and your confidents as it has been to me._

_I humbly accept your invitation to the upcoming festivity, I shall be attending with my father this time._

_Yours truly, Lord Del Kierson von Wincott."_

"I didn't know you had fans among the Ten Nobles, Conrad." Shouri commented after staying quiet throughout the meeting so far, while his comment still had the edge his speech seemed to naturally have, the bespectacled man did sound truthfully curious. Conrart opened his eyes and smiled easily at Shouri.

"The Wincott family and I may have some history that has made me close to the current Lord and his closest relatives but they have always been good people and have treated me as an equal since I was a child." The brunet explained without giving out too much detail, Gwendal could only guess he didn't wish for Shouri to start an interrogatory on Suzanna Julia as it would be rather problematic for the terrestrial. It also would take far too long to talk about Conrart's ancestors "Lord Densham is very much like them."

"Lord Densham was…"

"Anissina's brother." Lady Celli said, finishing Shouri's sentence and answering his question at the same time.

"Oh, the guy with the chicken." Yozak actually snorted at the Earth Maou's words. Considering Shouri didn't have the best experience with the noble houses and didn't actually need to know them all as Earth Maou it was no wonder the main reason he remembered the man was because of his pet chicken.

"Let's read his letter now then." Yuuri proposed, picking up the correct envelope. Gwendal looked at his youngest brother, curious as to why he had stayed quiet after his own proposition when he'd usually be rather chatty, he found the blond standing proudly as ever but he could see a worried frown on his face; he was anxious.

"_Dearest Yuuri-Heika;_

_Congratulations to you and your beloved husband, I am delighted to hear such wonderful news! I am also very happy to hear about Lord von Voltaire and his spouse. The Ten Noble Houses will have great additions to their names with these children, the noble blood running through their veins will be unmatched and they shall grow to be just as respectable as their parents._

_I want to address Sir Weller's own pregnancy now as well, I'm sure you have everything planned for his pregnancy to go as smoothly as possible but I cannot help but ask you to please be especially careful with him; he is the best swordsman in the Kingdom and your personal guard but this time it is his life you have to protect, your Majesty, and with his brothers just as busy as him for the time being don't be shy in asking for help from me if you need it, I have staff who knows how to handle pregnancies and I would be honored to send them to you should you need any extra hands to attend your family and friends._

_I happily will attend your party and, since my sister is already living at the castle, I will be going alone so I do not impose with more guests._

_Sincerely, Lord Densham von Kabelnikoff."_

"_Will_ we need more hands in the castle?" Shouri asked curiously.

"If things stay as calm as they have been so far and the pregnancies go without a hitch, I think we should be fine with the people Gisela has in the castle." Günter said with a smile "But the offer is still appreciated and good to have it in mind."

"Do you think he'll bring the chicken?" The King asked with a sweat drop running down the side of his face "Every time he does, Anissina tries to cook it to feed it to me."

"I will make sure to ask Anissina to not try to cook the chicken during the party." Lady Celli said with a wide smile, Gwendal still couldn't understand how she found any kind of amusement in such a situation.

"And I'll tell her not to cook it at any other moment during her brother's stay." The commander decided to add, knowing his childhood friend was very much capable of using any faults in his mother's words to her advantage.

"Should we move onto the next letter?" Wolfram finally used his voice again but it was a little strained, his semblance was still anxious and he seemed to want to be done with the situation as quick as possible.

"Are you ok, Wolf?" Yuuri asked his spouse with a worried voice "Are you still nauseous after all?"

"No, I feel perfectly fine but I have duties today and I would much rather not mess up my schedule." The blond answered without looking at his lover which only made the Monarch worry even more.

"Wolf, are you-"

"Just keep reading, you wimp!" Wolfram snapped and everyone looked strangely at him but they guessed he was just feeling under pressure from all the nobles sharing their thoughts on their letters and was letting his temper get the best of him.

"Ok, sure." Yuuri decided to not push for answers and instead picked up the next letter "…. Oh, great."

"Something wrong, your Majesty?" Conrart asked curiously and Gwendal saw his King sigh.

"_My dearest King Yuuri:_

_The news you have delivered to me are absolutely wonderful! I am delighted to know I will be a Great Uncle within a year and to at least three children! I am sure your child with Wolfram will be nothing short of regal and majestic and will-"_

"Is he coming to the party?" Gwendal interrupted rubbing his forehead in hopes of preventing the headache he could feel already coming; Stoffel had managed to get on his nerves in less than three lines but those lines were enough to reassure him the man would not say a single thing against any of them in order to stay on the King's good grace.

"With Raven, yep." Yuuri confirmed with a nod and reached for the envelope, Gwendal was able to take a look at the writing before the Maou put the paper away and couldn't help but grimace at the length of the letter; it would have taken at least ten minutes to read it and it was likely just filled with meaningless flattery "I guess I'll have to read a little more of it to reply but I think everything is good with him too."

"Kind of hate the fact we don't know if he's honest or just saying whatever he thinks the Young Master wants to hear." Yozak commented without remorse and the Earth-wielder could say everyone was thinking the same considering the past this man had.

"My brother has had horrible moments but I think he has actually grown since Yuuri-Heika came, he may not be as delighted as he claims to be but I do believe he is excited for the news." Lady Celli defended her brother although she sounded a little unsure herself.

"Let's give him the benefit of the doubt." Conrart proposed shrugging a shoulder.

"Well he at least I think he properly addressed you, I don't know how to take this response though…"

"What do you mean, Heika?" Günter asked curiously, the Maou spared a glance to his teacher and then looked back at the letter he was holding.

"Lord von Gyllenhaal mentions Wolfram and Günter separately but not really Conrad until the end, kind of." Yuuri explained "He says _'I shall be attending the upcoming celebration with much gusto so I can personally deliver my best wishes to each and every one of the parents-to-be for their future parenthood'._"

"Lord von Gyllenhaal is a very traditional man, I think he is more confused than anything about Conrart's situation." Gwendal said, remembering certain ideas the man had about family "There is no mention of a paternal parent in our letter so he must be trying to figure out who the other father is, possibly trying to remember if he saw anything during Mother's birthday; I believe he will be the first one to figure out whose power is running through Conrart's body."

"Is that something bad?" Shouri asked before his brother had the chance.

"He might attempt to talk you into marriage but he won't force you to do anything you do not want to do so just make it clear to him that you have everything sorted out without a wedding, he is a romantic person but he can be understanding and he has opened his mind a lot over the last ten years."

"I got scared for a moment there, not gonna lie." Yuuri admitted with a chuckle "Let's just keep him away from our children though I don't want them to get the same kind of punishment Wolfram got when he misbehaved."

The after-mentioned blonde's face reddened instantly and he seemed ready to snap at his spouse but it appeared that whatever was going in his mind that had kept him quiet throughout most of the meeting was stronger than a provocation by his husband, the tense shoulders did give away how hard it was for him to hold back though and Gwendal was worried his brother would explode at any moment from the stress.

"Come on, Wolf, you're worrying me." The youngest soukoku in the room stood from his place and walked up to his spouse, taking one of the pale hands firmly at the soldier's side and forcing Wolfram to look into Yuuri's eyes. The green-eyed demon stared for a moment and then let his shoulders slump with a sigh.

"I fear what Lord von Bielefeld might have written" And at that moment it dawned into everyone in the room what the problem was. Wolfram's uncle certainly was the noble to look out for, none of the other nobles really had the "Mazoku Pride" held quite as high as the Bielefeld Lord. Even after eight years since he gave up on the idea of dethroning Shinou's chosen Maou and the few moments of understanding they shared afterwards, he still didn't seem as convinced of the King as everyone else. That aside, he was never fond of Conrart either and, while he had never been explicitly disrespectful, the brunet's current situation might force him into showing his ugliest side to the Royal family.

"Waltorana loves Wolfram like his own son though." Lady Celli said in a hopeful tone "He was thrilled when you were born and I believe he will be just as happy with your child."

"What about Conrart?"

"Well, he never said anything against the proposition of giving Conrart a position of power after the Battle of Arnold so, perhaps…"

"I think it will be easier for him to ignore me completely." Conrart said when the former Queen drifted off, Gwendal couldn't notice any major changes in his posture against the wall but the Commander knew his half-brother didn't have a particular attachment to the head of the Bielefeld lands and therefore little interest in his opinion about his pregnancy but Wolfram did care and that was what mattered "Don't worry, he probably doesn't have time to think about it when looking forward to your baby."

"Or maybe he'll be ok with it." Yuuri tried to calm his consort with a positive thought after the brown-eyed man's words of reassurance but it was obvious the only thing that would ease the fire-wielder was finding out what the letter said "Let's read it now."

In silence, the Demon King walked back to his desk, bringing Wolfram along with him by the hand. Gwendal followed the couple with his eyes until his ruler sat back down, leaving the prince standing by his side. For the second time in that meeting, blue eyes looked for comfort in violet pools but this time even those eyes had uncertainty in them and it was a little frightening.

"_Your Majesty, King Yuuri:_

_I appreciate the attention of sharing these news to me. I am aware we do not have the closeness to call each other family regardless of your marital status with my nephew but I can't ignore the fact there is a new life coming into this world that shares Wolfram's blood and power as well as yours, please believe me when I say I am nothing short of gleeful about this fact and am willing to do my best to be a supportive relative to Wolfram like I have tried to be since he was born. If I may be so bold, I want to request now an audience between His Majesty and myself a couple of days before the celebratory ball you shall be holding –and which I will also be attending- to discuss some matters regarding this pregnancy. I won't be revealing any more information on the matter until we have met personally so I shall be awaiting your confirmation as reply to this letter._

_As far as Lord von Voltaire and Lord von Christ concerns, I want to share my words of felicitation with them and confide them that I have high hopes their offspring will be nothing short of what is expected of them due to what its parents represent for their lands and their kingdom. I can still recall the joy it was for the Ten Noble Houses when the former Queen, Cecile von Spitzberg, gave birth to two children from different representatives and they have grown to inherit the best qualities of their paternal houses as well as those of their maternal heritage; I want to trust this new infant will continue the success of children born among the highest ranks of Mazoku Nobility._

_Lastly, I will address Sir Weller's case as I expect you were waiting for some kind of acknowledgement to his condition by adding it to the letter and I do have to say I am quite astonished about it for I never expected him to be in this particular situation. I have no real insight to share for the moment and I would require more information to create an opinion so I will save my commentary until I feel informed enough to proceed._

_Without further ado, I expect your reply to my request._

_Sincerely, Lord Waltorana von Bielefeld."_

"…Nothing conclusive."

"Have a little more faith, Wolf." And if the King's words hadn't sounded so unsure, maybe everyone in the room would be more hopeful.

"He could have said his peace by now if he was closed to the idea." Gwendal spoke up, feeling it was his duty to calm everyone down, including the Maou; he was the more cold-headed one in the room and, thinking about the letter without an emotional approach, he could see the benefits that brought Waltorana's ambiguity in his writing to the royal family "I believe he doesn't want to make a mistake by voicing his opinion based on what he was told so it is very likely he is trying to find a way to accept Conrart's pregnancy despite lack of Maryoku and romantic partner that he knows of."

"That's the spirit Gwendal!" Yuuri exclaimed happily, throwing a grateful smile to the earth-wielder before turning back to his husband "I'll let him know I accept the meeting and maybe I can try to ease him into this when we talk, if he's coming with an open mind then I don't think I'll have much problem explaining the situation to him."

"Want me with you when he comes?" Shouri asked fixing his glasses on the bridge of his nose "I think hearing it from me would be more direct."

"We can talk about it later on, I kind of want to ask Murata what he thinks is best."

"Really? You think your friend is necessary?" Gwendal could hear the incredulous tone in Shouri's question and didn't really quite understand what problem the Earth Maou had with the Great Sage since the younger double-black had never been anything but helpful in the matters of the state so far but he simply assumed it had to do with some personal matter.

"I'm going to ask him, Shouri." The younger terrestrial said with finality before turning to his husband "See, Wolf? This isn't really as bad as you thought."

"I suppose so." Wolfram admitted with an exhausted sigh "But I want to be in the meeting too."

"If that'll make you feel better you can be with me." Yuuri said with a nod and the blond prince's shoulders relaxed completely for the first time since he set foot in that office. Gwendal himself felt his stress lowering and spared a glance to his half-breed brother who looked back at him with a smile that said _'Thank you'_. Gwendal broke the eye-contact when he heard his ruler speaking again.

"Ok, I think we can keep going with the rest of the letters."

* * *

Later that day, Gwendal was sitting at his office waiting for dinner time with Greta's letter to him in his hand. The rest of the letters they had read that day had been basically the same as the one they'd received from his lands but with a confirmation on coming to the "Pregnancy Party", as King Yuuri called it, and were expecting to receive more responses the following days but those will likely be read by Yuuri and Gwendal only and shared with the others if deemed necessary. Greta's letter to her parents hadn't been opened in front of everyone since Wolfram and Yuuri wanted to keep it personal and because the human Queen had not only sent the Royal couple and the Noble couple a personalized response respectively, but she had also written one to her half-breed brunet uncle which had been delivered to his office directly so everyone would be reading their letter separately.

"Gwendal?" The voice came accompanied by a couple of knocks on his door. Gwendal moved his gaze from the envelope in his hand to the door where he saw his husband peeking inside with a smile "I finally finished my job, I hope you were not waiting long."

"I just got done too, don't worry." The Earth-wielder reassured with a smile only his spouse could make him wear so easily "Do you want to read the letter now?"

"I'd like that very much." Günter nodded and walked to stand next to Gwendal's chair, the Commander saved them both time by not asking if the older male wanted to take a seat, knowing already he would say no.

"_Dear Gwendal;_

_Yuuri and Wolfram sent me a letter informing me of Günter's pregnancy, I'm so happy to hear that! I am sure you will be reading this with Günter so I shall be directing my speech to both of you now._

_I know it has not been that long since you got married in Mazoku years but it's been a while for me and I feel so excited to be able to meet my cousins and future brother or sister while still young. I remember thinking you two would be amazing parents one day because of the way you took care of me while living at the castle. I bet your child will love the cookies you both know how to bake and will play with every knitted animal Gwendal creates for them and will go to sleep every night with one of Günter's stories. Just between you and me, I think your child will be the best cared for; I love Yuuri and Wolfram but they can be very immature still and, while Uncle Shouri –Yuuri told me- and Conrart have experience with children, they can be too distant some times; you two are just the right people to be parents together and I know you will do great. I can't wait to see you at the party so I can congratulate you in person, I also want to visit closer to the birthday of the children if you allow me; I want to be part of this as much as possible without neglecting my own country but we can discuss that when I come to the castle._

_Also, I would like to ask for a favor; take care of Conrart. Gisela gave me lessons in everything related to courtship and beyond when I was younger and explained male pregnancy to me because I was curious about whether Yuuri and Wolfram could have children of their own. She explained to me the risks Yuuri would have faced had he been born without Majutsu so I know Conrart could be at risk if he does not take proper care of himself but, because I know him, I'd like to ask for your intervention as his older brother and former teacher to make sure he does everything he needs to make this pregnancy safer for himself and the child. I made sure to tell him this in his own letter as well but I do not wish to leave anything to luck so I am asking you two as well as my parents for this favor, please look after Conrart._

_Very well, I won't make this letter longer. I miss you all and I look forward to being able to talk more with everyone when I visit. I will be arriving a day earlier to have some time with you before the guests arrive and maybe help with any last minute details for the party._

_Love, Greta."_

"I cannot help but still picture her as the ten-year-old girl King Yuuri adopted so many years ago." Günter commented with a tender smile "But she has undoubtedly grown."

"Yes but even as Queen she can be informal with us." Gwendal said with amusement, the elegant handwriting worthy of a Queen but the way of speaking very much like the close member of the family she still was "She is the only one aware of Shouri-sama's situation with Conrart outside from us then."

"I am kind of curious about the other letters she sent."

"Don't be meddlesome." Gwendal said jokingly while using the empty envelope to hit the older Mazoku on the head softly "I am satisfied with just our letter… I have the potential to be a good father in her eyes."

"You are going to be the best father in Mazoku history, I can guarantee that." The beautiful demon assured hugging his spouse around the shoulders from his place next to the chair, resting his chin on top of Gwendal's grey hair now that he had a moment of height advantage "And you are going to spoil this child rotten."

"How are you so sure about that already?" The commander asked, rubbing Günter's arm that wrapped around the front of his neck. He felt the pointed chin on his head press more into his hair, he knew the older man was smiling before hearing it on the tone of his voice.

"You were a father figure to your brothers while you still needed one yourself, you helped raise Greta when her parents left the castle and Yuuri-Heika would not be half the King he is without your guidance." The pale demon listed, giving the boarder noble a gentle squeeze. Gwendal felt as Günter's head turned to rest his cheek on him rather than his chin "You have been wanting a family for so long I cannot imagine anyone more prepared than you for this job."

"Thank you, I really appreciate that." After the initial fear he had felt the night they had found out about the pregnancy, the fear of the possibility that his husband would decide to interrupt the pregnancy because the teacher had said he didn't want a child yet, listening to him saying he trusted Gwendal to be a good father was everything he could ask for. It was nerve-racking to tell his spouse they'd do as he decided regarding the child since it _had_ been unplanned and it _was_ Günter carrying the baby, not him. He had assured his lover that it was entirely his decision but he couldn't help but pray silently a selfish prayer asking for Günter to decide to keep the child and had thanked Shinou a thousand times over when the von Christ lord had told him he wanted to start a family with him now.

"There is nothing to thank me for." The older Mazoku assured, giving a quick kiss to his husband's head before letting go of him. He looked tenderly into Gwendal's blue eyes for a couple of seconds and then turned to walk to the door "I'm going to check on today's dinner, make sure to be on time."

"Günter?" Just as the long-haired man reached the door handle, Gwendal called out to him making him turn his gaze back at him. The Earth-wielder cleared his throat as he felt his face heat up but he was decided not to avert his eyes; he had done this plenty of times before but this moment felt very intimate, more so than a lot of previous moments they had had over the couple of years of marriage and it was doing a number on his emotional control but he could manage for this "I love you."

And the beautiful smile he received as a response was more than enough payback for his effort.

"I love you too."

* * *

**TBC~**


End file.
